Bullpen falters as the Astros drop the series finale to Boston

Correa, Gattis go back-to-back

Rookie shortstop Carlos Correa and left fielder Evan Gattis both went back-to-back during the top half of the seventh inning for the Houston Astros, but the bullpen was unable to maintain the lead as the Red Sox would go onto winning the series by the final score of 5-4 at Fenway Park.

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The Astros had to play from behind when the Red Sox grabbed the early 1-0 advantage during the home half of the second inning on an RBI single by Ryan Hanigan to Preston Tucker who started the night in right field. The man dubbed ‘Kung Fu Panda’, Pablo Sandoval trotted home on the base knock while Alejandro De Aza stopped at third base.

With the Red Sox holding a one-run lead, Jake Marisnick singled on a ground ball to shortstop Xander Bogaerts to even things up at one apiece. Bogaerts was responsible for most of the damage that was done in last night’s Independence Day loss and would fail to score during Sunday’s contest.

Sandoval later gave the Red Sox the lead on an RBI double to Gattis out in left field with Will Harris on the mound, scoring Hanley Ramirez on the play to make it 2-1. Gattis was also charged with a fielding error.

Hanigan followed that up with his second RBI hit of the game to extend Boston’s lead to two.

McCullers (4-2, 2.16 ERA) put together a solid outing, but it wasn’t enough for him or his team to pick up the victory. In five innings of work, he held the Red Sox to just one earned run on seven hits while issuing one walk and striking out three prior to handing the game over to his bullpen who eventually fell apart.

With Eduardo Fernandez out of the game, it was time for Alexi Ogando to hold things down for the home team. He would fail to do so when Correa launched a two-run shot that brought All-Star starter, Jose Altuve around to score with him, tying things up at three-all in the seventh.

Gattis redeemed his fielding error with a solo blast to left-center field, giving Houston the 4-3 lead late in the game.

Outfielder Ramirez (no, not Manny), clubbed the go-ahead two-run shot to left field with Tony Sipp on the mound, plating designated hitter David Ortiz making it 5-4.

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