HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S GAME: The Astros and Red Sox begin a 3-game set at Fenway Park tonight at 6:10 p.m. CT…RHP Cristian Javier (9-2) will make his 25th start of the season as he takes on Red Sox LHP Chris Sale (5-3)…Rematches: Both Javier and Sale faced their respective opponents in their last starts last week in HOU…Javier earned the win on 8/21 in the Astros 9-4 victory over Boston (5.0 IP, 3 ER)…Sale had ND on 8/23 in the Red Sox 7-5 win over HOU (5.0 IP, 4 ER).
VS. THE RED SOX: The Astros are 2-2 vs. BOS this season, splitting a 4-game set at Minute Maid Park last week (8/21- 24)…At The Fens: The Astros are 14-20 all-time at Fenway Park, but are 10-6 here since the start of the 2017 season… Postseason Foes: The Astros and Red Sox have faced off three times in the postseason since 2017…in those matchups, the Astros defeated the Bosox in the 2017 ALDS and in the 2021 ALCS, while the Bosox topped the Astros in the 2018 ALCS.
ROAD WARRIORS: The Astros are 39-27 (.591) on the road this season, which ranks 2nd in the AL…the Astros have not lost a road series since dropping 2 of 3 games at Dodger Stadium, 6/23-25…since that weekend, they have had 8 road series, winning 6 and tying 2…they are 19-10 (.655) on the road in that span.
LEFT-ON-LEFT: Tucker has also been the top LHH in the AL vs. LHP this season, ranking 1st in OPS (.982), and SLG (.590), T-1st in HR (11) and 2nd in batting avg. (.325) (min. 130 PA). IRON MAN: 3B Alex Bregman leads the AL in games played with 131…he also ranks 2nd in walks (76), 5th in runs (81), 5th in RBI (87) and 8th in OBP (.362)…since 8/8, he has tallied 17 RBI in 19 games while batting .360 (27×75) with a 1.080 OPS…he is 13 RBI shy of reaching his 3rd career 100-RBI season, previously reached in 2018 (103) and 2019 (112).
BRANTLEY UPDATE: OF Micheal Brantley will work out with the Astros at Fenway Park today…he has gone 8×23 (.348) in his 7 rehab games at Sugar Land with a HR and 7 RBI (0 K’s).
TONIGHT’S ASTROS STARTER: RHP CRISTIAN JAVIER
LAST START – 8/21 VS. BOS: last pitched last Monday against the Red Sox in Houston…picked up the win in the Astros 9-4 victory…worked 5.0 innings in the outing, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits, 3 walks and a HBP…tied his season high with 105 pitches in the outing.
ABOUT JAVIER: the Dominican hurler has made 24 starts in 2023 with the Astros going 17-7 in his starts…the Astros have won each of his last 3 starts.
- went 7-1 with a 2.90 ERA (26ER/80.2IP) in his first 14 starts this season…then had a rough 3-start stretch from June 21-July 3, in which he logged a 15.19 ERA (18ER/10.2IP)… since those 3 outings, has gone 2-1 with a 5.00 ERA (20ER/36IP) in 7 starts.
- has allowed a .188 (40×213) opponent batting average and a .637 opponent OPS against right-handed pitchers this season…lefties have had much more success, hitting .279 (75×269) with an .829 OPS opposite Javier.
- has been backed by huge run support on the season…ranks 2nd in the AL in run support average (6.36), trailing only RHP Kyle Gibson (6.37) by percentage points (min. 125 IP).
VS. THE SOX: will be starting opposite the Red Sox for his 2nd straight start tonight…including postseason action, has faced the Red Sox 6 times in his career, including just 2 starts.
- has faced the Red Sox twice in the postseason, with both outings coming in relief and during the 2021 American League Championship Series…tossed 5 scoreless IP of relief through the 2 ALCS outings, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 3 batters…the Astros won both games Javier came on in relief (Gm 1 and 4) during the series and went on to win the series in 6 games en route to the World Series.
- has pitched twice in his career at Fenway Park, both coming in relief in 2021, tossing a combined 7.0 shutout frames across the 2 outings…earned a 4.0-inning save on June 9, 2021 at BOS…returned in Game 4 of the 2021 ALCS to toss 3.0 innings in relief.
- has gone 3-0 with a 4.21 ERA (12ER/25.2IP) in 5 starts against the AL East this season.
INVISIBALL: has held opponents to a .197 average (307×1559) throughout his MLB career… it’s the lowest opponent’s batting average among qualified AL pitchers since entering the league in 2020…the next-closest player is Shohei Ohtani (.199).
BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:
STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox are 6-4 in their last 10 games, 12-8 in their last 20, and 13-12 during August. The Sox are 29-20 (.592) in their last 49 games since 6/30, MLB’s 7th-best record in that time (3rd in AL). At 69-62 (.527), Boston is tied with Arizona for MLB’s 12th-best record.
DUV-ALL ABOUT IT: In 7 games over the last week, Adam Duvall has hit .483 (14-for-29) with a 1.172 SLG, 1.688 OPS, 5 doubles, 5 HR, 7 runs scored and 12 RBI. Duvall leads AL players during that span in hits, doubles, HR, XBH, RBI, AVG, SLG, and OPS (min. 20 AB). He’s hit safely in each of those 7 games, including 6 games with multiple hits and at least 1 XBH and RBI.
DUGIE DOES IT: Alex Verdugo hit a leadoff HR in 3 straight games from Thursday at HOU through Saturday vs. LAD, becoming the 1st player in Red Sox history to do so.
He became the 3rd player in MLB history to do so.
SERIES BUSINESS: The Red Sox are 3-2-1 in their last 6 series…At 22-17-3, they have already matched their series win total from 2022 (22-24-6). Since the start of July, Boston is 6-2-0 in home series.
HOME COOKING: Boston is currently on a 6-game homestand against LAD (80-49) and HOU (74-58). Boston is 15-8 in its last 23 home games and 36-30 overall, compared to 33-32 on the road. At home, the Sox lead the majors in AVG (.286)…They also rank 2nd in OBP (.350), 3rd in SLG (.468) and OPS (.818), and 4th in runs scored per game (5.3).
NO TIME TO REST: The Sox are 7-6 so far in their stretch of 16 consecutive days with a game from 8/15-30. They’re in a stretch of 32 games in 34 days (7/28-8/30).
SLUGGING SOX: The Red Sox have homered in each of their last 16 games (29 total HR), their longest streak since August 2019 (19 games, 8/7-30). BOS has hit multiple HR in 4 straight games (11 total HR), their longest streak since May 2022 (5 games, 5/19-24). Boston has hit 23 HR in their last 11 games since 8/17, tied with SEA for most in MLB during that span. The Sox have homered in 24 of their 25 August games, after homering in only 16 of their previous 28 games.
HANG TEN: Boston has recorded 10+ hits in 55 games, 3rd most in MLB behind TEX (61) and ATL (57). They have done so in 8 of their last 11 games. Prior to yesterday, the Sox recorded at least 9 hits in 10 consecutive games, their longest such streak since 2013 (14 games) and tied with ATL and TOR for the longest of any team in 2023.
HIGH FIVE: The Red Sox are an MLB-best 56-8 (.875) when scoring 5+ runs…They’ve done so in 9 of their last 14 games, compared to just 2 of their previous 10. Since 6/14, the Sox are 29-2 when scoring 5+ runs.
LOCK IT DOWN: Boston owns MLB’s best record when leading after 6 innings (53-3, .946)…In 2022, they ranked 18th in MLB when leading after 6 (63-10, .863). The Red Sox lead MLB in save % (76.5; 39-for-51), after ranking 24th last season (57.4; 39-for-68).
CLOSING ACT: Kenley Jansen has converted each of his last 20 save opportunities since 5/20, MLB’s 2nd-longest active streak behind TOR’s Jordan Romano (21). Since 6/9, Chris Martin has allowed only 1 run over his last 29 outings (25.2 IP)…He ranks 2nd in MLB with a 0.35 ERA in that span (min. 20.0 IP).
SOX & ASTROS: BOS and HOU split a 4-game series in Houston last week…The Red Sox lost on Mon. (4-9) and Tue. (3-7), but won in 10 innings on Wed. (7-5) and set a season high in runs, hits (24), and victory margin on Thu. (17-1). The Sox are 7-4 in their last 11 games vs. HOU, beginning 6/10/21…They’ve won 3 of their 4 home
games in that span.
TONIGHT’S STARTER: 41 CHRIS SALE – LHP
W-L ERA G GS IP ER HR BB SO WHIP AVG
2023 5-3 4.68 14 14 73.0 38 10 19 90 1.14 .232
CAREER 119-78 3.10 337 257 1751.0 603 188 406 2154 1.05 .220
Allowed 4 runs, but struck out 9 batters over 5.0 IP last Wednesday at HOU (6 H, BB)… Retired each of his last 7 batters faced. Owns a 2.56 ERA (20 ER/70.1 IP) in 10 career starts against HOU…Is his 2nd lowest ERA out of 12 teams he has made at least 10 career starts against (lowest: 2.43 ERA vs. TEX). The Sox are 10-4 in his starts, including 5-1 in last 6. In his last 9 starts (beginning 4/30), is 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, .188 opponent AVG, 60 SO, and 9 BB (50.0 IP, 17 ER, 34-for-181, 5 HR). Has allowed only 5 HR over his last 11 starts after allowing 5 HR over his first 3 this season. Owns the Modern Era’s highest SO/9.0 IP rate (11.10) (min. 1,000 IP). Ranks 11th in Red Sox history with 910 SO (next: Bill Monbouquette, 969).
