The Red Sox defeated the Astros for a third straigh and final time in the ALCS. Boston has won the series 4-1 and will play in the World Series.
One Bad Pitch
Justin Verlander and David Price took the mound for game 5 on their second starts of the series.
Verlander had a strong start on the pitching mound. He had no trouble taking care of the top frame of the first despite giving up a walk to J.D. Martinez. David Price gave up a single to Jose Altuve but had no further trouble taking care of the inning. The story was a little different for Verlander in the second as he loaded up the bases. The bases were loaded due to a fielding error by Alex Bregman, a single by Christian Vazquez and a walk to Jackie Bradley Jr. The Red Sox could not come true as they left them load it. Verlander hanged the zero.
Verlander did a solid job on his first three innings at work. He made a single mistake, and it was a big one. Martinez hit a solo home run to left field in the top of the third. His long ball gave Boston the lead as the score was 1-0
Red Sox Blow Game Open
Price looked like the 2012 version of himself as he struck out, Altuve, Carlos Correa and Marwin Gonzalez to end the fourth. The Astros’ starter had little trouble retiring the Red Sox in the fifth despite giving a single to Martinez. The sixth inning would be totally different for Houston’s veteran.
The sixth frame was a rough one for the 35-year-old veteran as he opened up the inning with a double by Mitch Moreland. That was followed with a single by Ian Kinsler to put runners in the corners with nobody out. That was clearly the calm before the storm as the Red Sox delivered a big hit minutes a later. Rafael Devers hit a three run homer over the left field wall to blow the game wide open for Boston. Red Sox were up 4-0.
Open The Champagne
Roberto Osuna took over the mound to start the seventh for Houston, he retired the side in order. Matt Barnes replaced Price on the mound to start the bottom of the seventh. Barnes gave a solo home run to Gonzalez, getting the Astros a run closer to tying, 4-1. Nathan Eovaldi came in from the bullpen to finish the inning after Barnes gave a walk to Tony Kemp.
Osuna left Ian Kinsler stranded at third to end the top of the eighth inning. The Astros came into the bottom of the eighth looking to start a rally as they were down by three and they were running out of outs. Eovaldi made that task impossible, He left a man standing on first by the time he ended the inning. Houston faced Craig Kimbrell on the mound for the bottom of the ninth. They needed quick offense to mount a comeback as their season was coming to an end. Kimbrell struck out Correa, Gonzalez for the first two outs. Kemp hit a flyout to end the ballgame and the Astros’ season. Boston is going to the World Series after nine innings of play.
Final Score: Red Sox 4- Astros 1