The Red Sox Scraped The Houston Astros To Tie The Series Before Heading Back To Boston

I never cared about the Astros cheating scandal. Maybe the most boring display cheating in professional sports history. Doesn’t hurt that we 4-1’d them even while they were cheating, but still, never cared. I do care, right now, that they do so many bush league minor things throughout the course of a game when they’re getting pumped less than 24 hours after thumping their chests. Luis Garcia wasn’t hurt and karma agreed, loudly and without hesitation. Jake Odorizzi warmed up for an hour and a half, well within his right, to try and kill the Red Sox rhythm and maybe, hopefully, possibly, force Alex Cora to start thinking about getting someone hot to lift Nathan Eovaldi out of the game after a literal human rain delay. The result of these Mickey Mouse antics was the second Grand Slam in as many innings. 

I don’t know what it is with this team turning into Murderer’s Row the second they feel slighted. The Yankees wanted to play them, that game ended in the first inning. The Rays were eating popcorn and ordering champagne, they lost the next three games to have their season come to an unceremonious end. Carlos Correa put a little extra spice on a solo jack that would’ve been a routine fly out in 16 out of 30 ballparks and that was that. Julio Daniel Grand Slam, Rafael Devers Grand Slam, Enrique Hernandez solo piece, ballgame. Eovaldi shoved outside of a one inning hiccup, Adam Ottavino shut things down and has looked a lot more like first half Ottavino as of late, Whitlock came in and did exactly what we’ve come to expect out of him, and that was the end of that chapter. All tied up, in a series that should honestly be 2-0 Boston, heading back home. 

I can’t imagine there are correct words to use about what Enrique’s doing right now. He had a really good season for the Red Sox, tremendous in the field, outstanding out of the leadoff hole once he got comfortable at the end of May/early June, there was nothing he did over the course of 162 games to say he was going to morph into some hybrid of Babe Ruth, Manny Ramirez, and Barry Bonds the second October hit. And yet, here we are. 

Now we go back home, where a rested Eduardo Rodriguez AND Nick Pivetta wait. And the 2021 Slight Fest rolls on. 

Sox in 6.