HOUSTON -- The Red Sox scored their first run Thursday in the second inning, despite aggressive baserunning and Josh Reddick's great throw initially taking the run off the board in an 8-2 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park in Game 1 of the American League Division Series presented by Doosan.
With runners on first and second and two outs, Sandy Leon delivered a single up the middle, but Reddick appeared to keep Boston off the board by firing an 89.8-mph throw (per Statcast™) to nail Dustin Pedroia at third base before Mitch Moreland could cross home plate.
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Home-plate umpire Dan Bellino waved off the run, but the Red Sox challenged the call, and the ruling was overturned after replay showed that Moreland had touched home just before Alex Bregman applied the tag on Pedroia at third. The reversal allowed the run to score, cutting the Astros' lead to 2-1.
"The positioning of their outfielders, the base hit was right at Reddick," Pedroia said. "I just wanted to make sure that he threw at me instead of home to get that run. That was basically it. From playing with him and against him, he's got a pretty good arm, so we wanted to get that run."
To give you a sense of just how close this play was, Statcast™ -- which tracks baserunners' speeds from the crack of the bat until they touch the base -- had Moreland's time from second base to home at 7.13 seconds, while Pedroia was tracked at 7.29 seconds from first to third, a difference of less than 0.2 seconds.