Red Sox no strangers to thrilling comeback victories

HOUSTON -- Although it didn't have the dramatics of 11 walk-off wins, the Red Sox's early comeback and subsequent outburst in Tuesday night's 15-10 win vs. the Astros was unique in its own way.

There was no epic ninth-inning rally like they pulled off against the Mariners, but Tuesday was a methodical effort by a team used to comebacks.

"It's mentioned how it stacks up, so it means we've done it before," said right fielder Jonny Gomes, who hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer to cap off a five-run sixth inning. "With that being said, it says a lot about the character of this team. It's pretty easy to say, 'Play hard 'till the last out,' but you're seeing this team actually do it."

Boston now has 26 comeback wins this season, coming from behind in five of its last six wins.

The Astros jumped ahead, 5-0, but a three-run third inning put the Sox right back in it. A pair of Houston runs in the third and fourth seemed to provide breathing room. Not with this Boston lineup.

The Red Sox plated five in each of the next two frames, the first time Boston has scored at least five runs in consecutive innings since Sept. 10, 2004, against Seattle.

"You got to get on the board first," Gomes said. "Once we did that, they went out and scored some runs and erased them. It was toe to toe a little bit, but we needed a body blow in the fifth to take the wind out of them. The second time we did it, that was the knockout blow."

The Red Sox joined the Indians as the only teams this season to win a game by five or more runs that they had also trailed by at least five runs. The Tribe did it on June 28 against the White Sox with a 19-10 victory.

The 15 runs was also Boston's second-highest total of the season and the most on the road since posting 18 in Baltimore on July 18, 2011.

Manager John Farrell said the comebacks have become more or less expected in the dugout, with no walk-off possibility required to lock his lineup in to the moment.

"Throughout the course of the game, there was never any extra sense of urgency, no panic," he said. "Guys truly believe if we stay with our overall approach, we have a chance to build an inning every inning.

"So whether it's all those runs in the ninth against Seattle or being down five here early last night, there's a relentlessness to the approach up and down the lineup. You catch one and put points on the board with one swing, things have a way of mounting."