Quotes, notes and stars from the Red Sox’ 8-3 loss to the Astros:
QUOTES
* “He’s finished many left-handed hitters off with a two-seamer that runs back to the corner. It came back obviously to the middle. He was working through the at-bat in good shape.” -- John Farrell on Clay Buchholz missing with his two-seam fastball that turned into a Colby Rasmus grand slam.
* “It’s a really good pitch when you’re able to throw it where you want to . . . In hindsight, I probably throw a change-up right there.” -- Buchholz on using his backdoor two-seamer against Rasmus in the fifth.
* “That’s a really tough one because it’s directly in between us and we both felt like we were able to go get it. And it’s tough to communicate on that one because the ball wasn’t high enough . . . I think we made a good play after it though.” -- Mookie Betts on both he and Jackie Bradley, Jr.’s diving effort on José Altuve’s double in the seventh.
* “It’s a bit sore. I have the power, but it’s just the mobility and flexibility that I don’t have.” -- Xander Bogaerts before the game about his injured wrist that sidelined him for Saturday’s game.
NOTES
Boston Red Sox
* Colby Rasmus’ grand slam was the first Clay Buchholz has given up in his career.
* The Red Sox have now scored in the first inning in their last four games.
* Josh Rutledge is now 3-for-5 this season after his eighth-inning RBI double. He has just as many hits as Chris Young, who’s had 17 more at-bats.
* Boston’s starters have a 4.46 ERA in the last seven games, and its offense has produced 4.3 runs per game in the same stretch.
STARS
1) Colby Rasmus
Despite having terrible numbers against Buchholz entering the contest, Rasmus launched his grand slam in the fifth to break the 1-1 tie. He also laced a two-out double in the eighth to knock in the Astros’ eighth and final run.
2) José Altuve
Aside from jogging into an out when he tried for a triple, Altuve was great, going 3-for-5 with two runs, two doubles and an RBI.
3) Dustin Pedroia
The veteran second baseman not only hosed down Altuve on his bid for a triple, but he finished 2-for-4 with a run and a walk.
