 to start the fourth inning and get within 4-3. Moreland's homer was a towering shot to straightaway center field that hit the ''H'' in the Astros' logo on the wall, while Martinez hit his major league-leading 19th homer.Springer's sprint put the Astros ahead in the first inning. With runners at first and second and one out, Sale threw a hard slider that Correa swinging for strike three. But the ball bounced off catcher Sandy Leon's glove and caromed toward the first base dugout, and Springer hustled home on the wild pitch.Springer hit his 12th home run in the third as Houston built a 4-1 lead.Cole won his fourth straight decision, giving up three runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out seven, raising his AL-leading total to 116.Sale (5-3) lost his second in a row, allowing four runs in six innings. He struck out six, giving him 110 this season.Correa, who entered Thursday's game in an 0-for-10 slump, homered for the second straight game against Boston when he hit a solo drive in the eighth off Joe Kelly. It was just the second run Kelly had allowed in his last 24 outings and he'd retired 24 straight batters before the homer.Kelly then walked Yuli Gurriel, and Gattis homered to left-center.The Red Sox, who have baseball's best record at 39-19, lost their second straight game on a night where they were missing major league batting leader Mookie Betts, who was placed on the disabled list before the game. Boston had hoped that Betts was nearing a return after missing the last six games, but instead put him on the disabled list just before the game because of an abdominal strain.Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who has played just three games this season, sat out for the second straight game because of soreness in his surgically repaired left knee.TRAINER'S ROOMRed Sox: Manager Alex Cora isn't sure how long Pedroia will be out. ''He's a big part of what we're trying to accomplish,'' Cora said. ''We know what he brings to the table so we'll make sure he's healthy.'' Astros: OF Josh Reddick, who is on the disabled list with an infection in his left knee, took early batting practice for the second straight day, but isn't expected to return during this series. But manager A. J. Hinch said he's improving and could begin a rehabilitation assignment soon.UP NEXTHouston's Justin Verlander, who leads the majors with a 1.11 ERA, opposes David Price (5-4, 4.04) when the series continues on Saturday night. Verlander has won three straight and allowed just two runs combined in those games. Price has also won three in a row and has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last four starts.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Red Sox look to even series with Astros 1h ago• 2 min read HOUSTON -- First-year Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora and bullpen coach Craig Bjornson received their World Series rings in advance of the series opener with the Astros on Thursday at Minute Maid Park, an occasion Cora relished and used to close the chapter on his time with Houston.Cora spent the 2017 season as the bench coach under Astros manager A. J. Hinch. Although their time together was relatively brief, Cora acknowledged that what he learned working for Hinch and the reigning champions provided some tenets that he is applying with the Red Sox."There's a lot of things that we do here that are very similar to them," Cora said. "Using the information (from the analytics department); (vice president/baseball research and development) Zack (Scott) being part of the equation on a daily basis. What we're doing with the medical staff is very similar to over there. I saw a lot of good things that happened on a daily basis with the Houston Astros and, obviously, it's like football -- a copycat league. We're trying to do the same thing and we're trying to accomplish the same goal." After falling 4-2 in the opener, Boston (39-18) will look to square the series behind left-hander Chris Sale (5-2, 2.76 ERA) on Friday. Sale allowed a season-high six runs over 4 1/3 innings in his previous start against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, snapping a string of four consecutive wins. He is 5-1 with a 1.31 ERA over six career starts against the Astros, owning a .168 opponent batting average. His 13.0 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the highest ever against Houston. However, Sale was the pitcher of record in Games 1 and 4 of the American League Division Series last season, allowing nine runs on 13 hits and one walk over 9 2/3 innings in a pair of defeats.The Astros will turn to right-hander Gerrit Cole (5-1, 2.05 ERA) on Friday. Cole, who leads the AL in strikeouts (109) and ranks second in WHIP (0.83) and opponent batting average (.169), did not factor in the decision in his previous outing at Cleveland last Sunday after allowing three runs on four hits and two walks with eight strikeouts over seven innings. He is 1-1 with a 5.25 ERA over two career starts against the Red Sox while pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates.Houston (36-22) is in the midst of a grueling stretch, coming off a seven-game road trip through Cleveland and New York against two of the final four teams in the 2017 AL postseason. The Astros and Red Sox were the other two combatants. The Astros pulled to within 3 1/2 games of Boston for the best record in the AL with their win in the opener, and while there is plenty of jostling left to come, it's never too early to establish an upper hand in the season series."It's important for us to play ahead in this series," Hinch said. "We expect them to be aggressive, we expect them to hit off the fastball very early in the count. We'll match our pitching against their hitting, so I think it will be a really good series."We've had a nice little run here of playing really good teams."
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