Red Sox squander multiple bases-loaded chances in loss to Astros

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on May 2, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — Some teams are built to play with the lead, not come from behind, but over the course of a long baseball season almost every club eventually rallies for a few big comeback wins.

It will probably happen for the Boston Red Sox at some point too, but it hasn’t happened yet.

More than a month into the season the Red Sox still have yet to win a game in which they trailed by more than one run. They couldn’t pull it off Saturday either, falling into an early hole and squandering numerous chances to fight back in the eventual 6-3 loss to the last-place Houston Astros.

Not helping matters was the performance of rookie left-hander Connelly Early, who allowed a career-worst five earned runs in only four innings.

The Astros jumped in front right away after Early walked two of the first three batters he faced and allowed an RBI single to Christian Walker to make it 1-0. From there Early settled down and kept the Astros off the board for the next two innings, and in the third the Red Sox had a golden opportunity to seize control of the game.

Ceddanne Rafaela led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third when Caleb Durbin and Jarren Duran subsequently walked to load the bases with one out. That brought up Willson Contreras, one of the club’s most productive hitters so far this season, but the first baseman couldn’t deliver and grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

The Astros quickly made the Red Sox pay.

Houston came out swinging in the fourth and hammered Early for four runs on five hits, all scorched. Walker hit a leadoff single, Jose Altuve doubled to put men at second and third and Brice Matthews crushed a three-run home run to make it a four-run lead. Cam Smith kept the rally going with a double and Carlos Correa capped it off with an RBI single to make it 5-0.

Early finished with five runs allowed on six hits, three walks and three strikeouts. It was the first time in his MLB career he has allowed more than three earned runs in an outing, but it also marked the sixth time in seven starts this year that he’s recorded at least two walks.

Considering the Red Sox still haven’t overcome even a two-run deficit to win a game, climbing out of a five-run hole felt daunting. But while Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti gave the Red Sox every opportunity to pull it off, the offense couldn’t land the decisive blow.

After working his way out of the bases-loaded jam in the third, Arrighetti led off the fourth with consecutive walks, but the Red Sox let him off the hook with a strikeout, a groundout and another strikeout.

The Astros stretched their lead to 6-0 in the fifth on a solo home run by Walker off right-hander Ryan Watson, but the Red Sox once again had a chance to get back in the game after Connor Wong and Duran singled and Contreras hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field to put the Red Sox on the board. Roman Anthony singled and Wilyer Abreu drew the club’s fifth walk of the day to re-load the bases, but once again Boston came away with nothing when Trevor Story popped out to end the inning.

At that point the Red Sox had stranded seven men on base over the previous three innings with only one run to show for it.

Arrighetti finished with one of the most deceptive pitching lines you’ll ever see. He allowed one run on five hits over five innings, but also allowed five walks with four strikeouts.

The Red Sox had one last good chance in the seventh to pull off the comeback. Following two quick outs the Red Sox had five consecutive men reach safely, with two runs scoring on RBI singles by Abreu and Story. A chess match of pitching changes and pinch hit moves resulted in Masataka Yoshida drawing a walk against reliever Kai-Wei Teng to load the bases again, but for the third time the Red Sox came away with little to show for it after Rafaela struck out to end the threat.

Boston went quietly into the night from there, finishing the game 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position while leaving 10 men on base.

Ranger Suarez (2-2, 3.09) will get the ball Sunday as the Red Sox look to take two out of three from the Astros. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET.

Walker hit in head

Saturday’s game took a frightening turn with two outs in the top of the ninth when Walker was hit in the head by a 93.3 mph fastball from Tyler Samaniego. The impact broke a piece off Walker’s helmet, and he immediately left the game on his own power attended by the trainer while holding a towel over his head.

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