BOSTON -- The Red Sox took a pair of gut punches in Sunday’s 3-1 extra-innings loss to the Astros.
Beyond the Astros taking the series at Fenway, Boston took another ill-afforded hit to the starting rotation.
Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray are already on the injured list, though those came as precautionary moves in reality, as both arms should return soon. Brayan Bello’s ERA is over 9.00, and Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval are not that close to returns from long-term rehabs.
All that context added to the mystery of why Ranger Suarez exited the finale after four scoreless innings and just 70 pitches. The left-hander struck out three Astros and allowed just three hits and a walk.
Tyler Samaniego, who tossed two innings in Saturday’s loss, came on in relief to begin the fifth inning. He was one of several arms who worked multiple frames earlier in this series and had their number called again in the finale.
The Red Sox later announced that Suarez had departed with right hamstring tightness. The left-hander dealt with a right hamstring injury that caused him to miss time at the end of the summer during the 2023 season.
Suarez’s shortened outing came after his eight-inning, 10-strikeout gem against the Blue Jays in his previous start.
“Vintage Ranger, I'd say, even with more strikeouts,” interim manager Chad Tracy said Sunday morning of the Toronto start. “So I just enjoyed watching him navigate that lineup and add, subtract, in and out, up, down, wherever he wanted to put it. Off-balance swings. It was impressive. I think when you watch that, I think a lot of people have been watching that in Philly over the years. That was an impressive performance. Hopefully, you go out there and do it for us again.”
With the series on the line in the rubber match, Jarren Duran stepped up offensively and blasted his second home run of the series to create the first run of the game in the fifth inning. Houston tied the score the next frame on Brice Matthews’ sacrifice fly.
The Astros pulled starter Cody Bolton after 2 1/3 innings, so both bullpens shouldered a heavy workload in the finale. Both bullpens also met the challenge in an extended stretch of combined scoreless innings. Fans got a pitcher’s duel at Fenway, just not the one they likely could have envisioned.
The Red Sox and Astros gave themselves plenty of chances in the low-scoring affair but wasted most of those with 21 combined runners left on base through nine innings.