Astros Live Game Feed: Game 39 Preview- Boston

The Astros Try to Bounce Back Following the Extra Innings Loss to the Red Sox

The baseball gods giveth and taketh away.  This series between the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox has seen comeback wins from both squads, as Boston returned the favor in walk-off fashion with David Ortiz bringing in Xander Bogaerts for yesterday’s win.  The Astros will look to draw the series at 2-2 in the series finale, and final regular season matchup between the two clubs.

The Red Sox are the best hitting team in baseball, posting a .297 team batting average, and against Houston this year, that number increases to an insane .333.  This series has seen Boston put up hit totals of 14,11,14 in the past three games respectively.  The Astros are hitting the ball better, but it just comes down to when they are getting the hits.

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In the two losses this series, the Astros are batting .083 RISP, and in the win .400.  These woes have been a season-long theme for the Houston offense as they rank near the bottom of the majors in team RISP at .227.

Closer Luke Gregerson blew his second save in three opportunities.  In yesterday’s game, he threw only 8 of his 18 pitches for strikes and was noticeably off.  Ortiz’s triple could have been played better by Jake Marisnick in center field, as he took a terrible angle, but regardless, the ball was tattooed by Ortiz.  Having pitched three out of the last four nights, look for Gregerson to get a day off, even with the much needed off day coming tomorrow.

GAME 4: Chris Devenski (0-2, 1.72) vs. Sean O’Sullivan (1-0, 6.43)

Devenski looks to continue his impressive rookie campaign and try to collect his first major league victory.  As well as Devenski has pitched for Houston, each one of his appearances has been a part of a losing effort.  His luck won’t change easily against the best lineup in baseball, but in two relief appearances against Boston in the first series, Devenski did not allow a single run in 5.1 innings pitched.

He did allow seven hits, but they were all singles.  In his three starts this year, Devenski has a 2.55 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.  He has pitched well but has gotten almost zero run support from his teammates.

If the Astros are to give Devenski any run support, their chances of doing so will be increased as they face Sean O’Sullivan in the series finale.  The hefty journeyman O’Sullivan has filled in for injured starters Eduardo Rodriguez and Joe Kelly, was a winner by default in his recent start against Oakland, as the Boston offense dismantled the A’s pitching and won the game 13-5.

Kelly in two outings this year has yielded opponents a .412 batting average, and although he has not given up a home run yet (O’Sullivan has averaged 2.0 HR/9 his past two seasons), his hard-hit percentage of batted balls is 46.7%.

Current Astros are batting a combined .333 against O’Sullivan, and if there is a chance for Carlos Gomez to snap out of his funk, today is the day, as he is 3/6 against Sullivan with two doubles.  Jason Castro is 2/2 against the right-hander with a walk. What are your thoughts on the series or season, please scroll down and participate in today’s live game feed?

***Stats from Baseball-Reference***