Adam Duvall homered for the third time in as many games, clubbing a three-run home run in the 10th inning that lifted the visiting Boston Red Sox to a 7-5 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
Duvall drilled a 2-2 sinker from Astros reliever Kendall Graveman (3-6) into the left field seats immediately after fouling a pitch off his lower leg that resulted in an extended delay. He drove home Rafael Devers and Triston Casas and snapped a 4-4 tie with his 14th homer.
The Red Sox won an extended bullpen battle. Astros right-handers Seth Martinez, Hector Neris, Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly and Graveman combined to retire 14 consecutive batters before Casas reached via a one-out walk in the 10th.
Boston reliever Josh Winckowski allowed a run in the bottom of the 10th but stranded the bases loaded to earn his third save. The Red Sox claimed the finale of the three-game series after losing the first two games.
Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock worked two scoreless innings and recorded a critical strikeout of Kyle Tucker to close the seventh with a pair of runners on in a tie game.
Chris Martin stranded a pair in the eighth and Nick Pivetta (9-6) got two outs after entering suddenly in the ninth when closer Kenley Jansen departed due to right hamstring tightness.
The Red Sox clawed back from a three-run deficit with a pair of two-run frames off Astros starter Jose Urquidy.
In the third, an RBI double by Alex Verdugo and a run-scoring single by Casas cut Houston’s lead to 3-2.
Trevor Story delivered an RBI single in the fifth that plated Justin Turner. Wilyer Abreu then pulled the Red Sox even at 4-4 with a run-scoring groundout that chased Urquidy, who allowed four runs on eight hits with three walks and one strikeout in 4 2/3 innings.
Boston left-hander Chris Sale recovered nicely following a ragged start, recording the biggest out of his appearance to close the bottom of the third.
The Astros claimed a 3-0 in the second inning when, two batters after Jeremy Pena reached on a one-out single, Martin Maldonado smacked his 10th home run to left-center field. Sale surrendered consecutive hits to Jose Altuve (double) and Alex Bregman (single) in the first, with Altuve subsequently scoring on a Tucker sacrifice fly.
Sale found more trouble in the third.
After Bregman worked a leadoff walk, Sale recorded a pair of outs before Yainer Diaz delivered a single and Jose Abreu added a run-scoring double that advanced Diaz to third. However, Sale struck out Pena to keep the deficit at 4-2, the first of seven consecutive batters he retired to cap his outing.
In five innings, Sale allowed four runs on six hits and one walk with nine strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
