Astros stopped by Pérez, Red Sox. Lose 5-1 to finish homestand

On Thursday, the Astros were trying to sweep a four-game series against the Red Sox but were defeated 5-1 due to a dominant pitching performance by starter Martín Pérez, who outdueled a struggling Jake Odorizzi.

After scoring four runs in the first three games of the series, the Red Sox pounded Odorizzi with three runs in the third inning thanks to a Christian Arroyo three-run home run. The veteran righty lasted only three episodes and took his third loss of the season (0-3) while raising his ERA to 7.16. He struggled with command (three walks) and needed 76 pitches (48 strikes) to get through his outing.

Enoli Paredes (scoreless fourth) and Cristian Javier (two runs across three innings) followed Odorizzi on the mound, but the Astros got to the bottom seventh down 5-0. The offense couldn’t wake up this time, and Houston’s only highlights were Aledmys Díaz’s two hits plus two singles and a solo shot from Yuli Gurriel’s bat.

With his homer and his two other hits, Gurriel left a slump behind. He was 2-for-23 (.087) with no extra-base hits and only two runs batted in across his last seven games. Yuli is now one of four players in the American League with at least seven games of 3+ hits. The other three are Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (8), Isiah Kiner-Falefa (7), and Xander Bogaerts (7).

Hitters were off on Thursday as José Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yordan Álvarez, and Taylor Jones combined for 0-for-16 with four strikeouts. The team left six men on base and was 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

Now they’ve finished their homestand with a 5-4 record, the Astros will head to Buffalo to visit the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field. Zack Greinke will get into a pitching duel with lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu on Friday (7:07 pm ET) and will be followed by José Urquidy and Luis García for Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

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