Monster start fuels Astros' rout of Red Sox - Houston Chronicle

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BOSTON — Carlos Correa craned his neck toward the towering wall this town worships. The Green Monster makes routine fly balls a burden. Correa struck one to start an Astros avalanche. He did not leave the batter's box. Few of the Red Sox infielders even turned their heads. The baseball traveled just 310 feet and, according to Statcast, carried an expected batting average of .090. 

Home-plate umpire John Tumpane knelt between third base and home plate to track the ball’s flight. Correa studied it, too. Out of nowhere, Houston’s shortstop started to jog around the bases. The crowd cursed him. His opponents stood in shock. Correa completed his trot with a trademark plea for more noise as he touched third base.

Cameras did not capture exactly how the baseball bounced, but a replay review of one minute and 32 seconds upheld the home run. The ball fell down on the warning track, but apparently cleared the monster in fair territory. Correa accepted the gift on a night where nothing else was cheap. Martín Pérez stalked the mound almost in shock, unprepared for the embarrassment ahead in the Astros’ 7-1 bludgeoning in Boston.

Five days ago, Pérez received a reprieve. The Astros offer so few throughout the season, but long-term health supersedes short-term success. Manager Dusty Baker gave both Correa and Kyle Tucker routine off days. Michael Brantley remained on the injured list. Pérez pounded the fill-ins for 7 ⅔ innings. Houston did not score against him, scattered six hits and did not finish a four-game sweep. 

Baker brought a full-strength lineup to Boston. It pounded Pérez like no other team in the first three months of this season. Brantley returned off the injured list and struck an opposite-field double to begin the second. Tucker followed with another. Correa struck two extra-base hits in two at-bats against him. No Houston hitter got a third.

Top 1st - Crew Chief reviews call that Carlos Correa hits a home run; call confirmed, home run. Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/jUKUgigG6t

— MLB Replays (@MLBReplays) June 9, 2021

Pérez survived only two innings and surrendered six runs. The Red Sox southpaw procured his six outs on 59 pitches. The Astros did not swing and miss against any of them. Pérez walked three batters and threw only 33 of his 59 pitches for strikes. 

“I think it was more him than us,” Baker said, “but we capitalized on his ineffectiveness.”

Houston fouled off 16 pitches in two innings. It spoiled only 12 across 7 ⅔ last Thursday while whiffing eight times. That lineup featured Garrett Stubbs at catcher, Taylor Jones in left field and Chas McCormick in right. Tuesday offered no such holes. Even the Astros’ outs were strenuous. Alex Bregman struck out in the first inning — but saw 11 pitches.

“That took a whole inning out of him,” Baker said. “If everyone can have a super at-bat like that, fight’em at-bat, that takes a lot out of him. He threw him every pitch at him in the book.”

Pérez faced 16 Astros. Eleven reached. Every starter but Jose Altuve got aboard against him. The onslaught allowed Framber Valdez to work in comfort. Houston’s starter did not throw a pitch without a lead. Valdez struck out eight across 7 ⅓ innings of one-run ball, lowering his ERA to 1.47 after 18 ⅓ innings. 

After scattering five singles against Valdez last Wednesday, the Red Sox matched their meager output Tuesday. Valdez did not walk a batter, but did hit two. Boston put the leadoff man on during four of Valdez’s eight innings and managed one run. Valdez induced 11 groundball outs while inducing 18 swings and misses on the 67 strikes he fired. He needed nine pitches to finish a fast first inning, allowing his offense back to work. 

“Framber is getting sharper and sharper,” Baker said. “He had tremendous confidence in his breaking ball and you could tell he had them waving at his breaking ball … He’s going to get better and better the more he pitches.”

Houston began the second with four straight baserunners. All scored during a frame Pérez barely finished. Brantley and Tucker began the downfall with consecutive doubles. 

Brantley held between second and third base while Tucker’s ball soared. He could not risk Kiké Hernandez catching the baseball in center field. Third-base coach Omar Lopez did not test Brantley’s recently rehabilitated right hamstring. The veteran outfielder stopped at third. 

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Martín Maldonado mashed a single into the left field corner, allowing Brantley a slow jog to home plate. Correa crushed a first-pitch double that scored Maldonado. Correa collected three hits by the fourth inning. He finished a triple shy of the cycle and is 16-for-40 in his past 11 games.

Boston manager Alex Cora tried to stay within striking distance in the dismal second. Down by three runs, Cora intentionally walked Alex Bregman to load the bases for Yordan Alvarez. Lefthanded hitters were 3-for-23 against Pérez in his past five starts. The matchup seemed to favor the Red Sox starter. Pérez plunked Alvarez with the first pitch he threw, forcing in another run during his farcical night.

Pérez’s departure deadened Houston’s bats. The lineup had five hits in the seven innings after he exited. It scored once more, but with a mammoth shot. Alvarez arrived against reliever Matt Andriese in the fourth without a home run since May 12. The 16-game slump seemed somewhat unfathomable for such a slugger. Alvarez had not gone longer than eight games without a home run at any other point in his career.

Andriese flipped a curveball to get ahead in the count. He returned with a four-seam fastball. It sat up in the strike zone. Alvarez deposited it 451 feet to dead center field. He stared at the baseball’s flight and began his jog around the bases — this time all in the ballpark certain of a home run.

“I don’t care if he’d have hit it in the front row,” Baker said. “A homer is a homer. As Hank Aaron used to tell me, it’s not how far — it’s how many.”

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