The great sell-off never materialized for the Red Sox, who actually became buyers with Tuesday’s acquisition of Eric Hosmer. The good vibes continued when Rafael Devers returned to the lineup and knocked in both runs in a 2-1 win at Houston.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Sox, who have already won the season series with the Astros as well as their first series since sweeping Cleveland June 24-26, will go for the sweep in Houston
Brayan Bello was initially listed as the starter, but it will be Rich Hill, spared at the deadline, on the mound for the Sox.
Advertisement
Here is a preview.
Lineups
RED SOX (53-52): Duran CF, Pham LF, Devers DH, Bogaerts SS, Verdugo RF, Arroyo 3B, Dalbec 1B, McGuire C, Sánchez 2B.
Pitching: LHP Rich Hill (4-4, 4.20 ERA)
ASTROS (67-38): Altuve 2B, Pena SS, Alvarez DH, Bregman 3B, Diaz LF, Tucker RF, Mancini 1B, Vazquez C, Dubon CF.
Pitching: RHP José Urquidy (9-4, 3.86 ERA)
Time: 2:10 p.m.
TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Red Sox vs. Urquidy: Xander Bogaerts 0-6, Jackie Bradley Jr. 0-3, Rafael Devers 3-5, J.D. Martinez 2-5, Reese McGuire 0-2, Tommy Pham 1-1, Kevin Plawecki 1-3, Alex Verdugo 3-6
Astros vs. Hill: Trey Mancini 2-7, Jose Altuve 1-7, Jason Castro 2-6, Martin Maldonado 0-5, Aledmys Diaz 1-2, Michael Brantley 0-2, Mauricio Dubon 0-2, Christian Vazquez 0-2, Yordan Alvarez 0-1, Alex Bregman 0-1, Yuli Gurriel 0-1, Kyle Tucker 0-1.
Stat of the day: The Red Sox have won three in a row, coming from behind in each of them.
Notes: Hill is making his first start for the Red Sox since he went on the injured list July 2 with a left knee sprain. Pitching for the Double A Portland Sea Dogs last week, he went three innings, yielding a run on four hits (including a solo home run) while striking out five in a 10-5 victory over the host Hartford Yard Goats. … Urquidy is 2-0 with a 4.09 ERA over two career starts against the Red Sox.
Advertisement
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.