HOUSTON — The biggest swing for the Red Sox on Wednesday, a quiet night for the lineup, did not involve a bat. It was about momentum.
They lost to the Astros, 4-1, in a series finale that shifted the tone of their now-completed road trip.
Beforehand, manager Alex Cora labeled it “a big game for us,” for swing-game reasons. But instead of salvaging a 3-3 week against playoff contenders San Diego and Houston, which would have given them plenty with which to be content, the Red Sox were stuck at 2-4, dropping both sets.
That represented more of the same for the Sox, who are 66-56 overall but 27-34 as the away team this season.
“We played well against two good teams,” Cora said. “We didn’t win the series. And we’re not in the business of losing series. We’re in the business of winning. But I’m pleased with the way we [played].”
Trevor Story echoed: “It feels like we played better than the record. Obviously, no one is going to be super happy about that, but we know: Just get home.”
The Sox return to Fenway Park — where they own a 39-22 record — Friday for the first of five games against the Marlins and Orioles.
Of their 40 remaining games, just 13 are against clubs that currently hold postseason spots.
“We’ve thrived there,” Story said of Fenway. “We have to use it to our advantage again.”
The Sox made a comeback bid in the ninth, back-to-back singles bringing the would-be tying run to the plate with no outs. But the Astros’ Bryan Abreu, filling in for injured closer Josh Hader, got Wilyer Abreu (popout), Ceddanne Rafaela (strikeout), and pinch hitter Rob Refsnyder (strikeout) to end it.
Cora was ejected by home plate umpire Ryan Blakney in the seventh after two animated conversations in as many innings about a non-balk call.
It started when the Red Sox nearly scratched across the tying run in the sixth inning. Jarren Duran walked and advanced to second on a balk by Houston’s Hunter Brown. When he wound up at third base with two outs, Duran as well as third-base coach Kyle Hudson and Cora — emerging from the dugout — yelled for another balk call as Brown prepared to throw a pitch to Romy Gonzalez.
The pitch was a strike. The umpires gathered to discuss the potential balk and decided it wasn’t. Cora came out to argue, to no avail.
In the top of the seventh, as the Astros made a pitching change, Cora returned to the field because he wanted to close the loop and seek an explanation. Then Blakney gave him the boot.
Cora said he was frustrated that Brown did not declare that he was pitching out of the windup, but acknowledged afterward that that isn’t a firm rule, just a recent norm.
“First of all, they got it right,” Cora said. “I went out there to educate myself, to be honest with you. That’s what I told [Blakney]. I want to learn. I want to know. I don’t know if he took it as I was being sarcastic. I wasn’t. I was walking back and he threw me out.
“I hate getting thrown out. My job is to be in the dugout and help this team win games from the dugout. This whole thing about rallying the troops and all that, getting thrown out, that’s [expletive]. My job is to be in the dugout. That’s something Dave Dombrowski taught me in ‘18 and I try to stay there as much as possible.”
The clubs swapped early blows, with the Astros (68-53) jumping out front in the first inning with what wound up being a permanent lead.
They struck for a pair of runs in righthander Walker Buehler’s 27-pitch bottom of the first. Jeremy Peña hit a leadoff homer into the left-field stands. A pair of walks helped set up Yainer Diaz’s two-out RBI single to left.
In the next half-inning, the Sox got one back against Brown, beginning with Story’s leadoff double into the right-field corner. Rafaela stroked a soft single to center to plate him with two outs.
It stayed that way until the sixth. Buehler rebounded to retire 15 of his next 16 batters. Brown worked around some traffic — six hits, three walks altogether — but gave up just the one run across 6⅔ innings.
But Buehler faltered again in the sixth. After recording the first two outs with relative ease, he walked Victor Caratini on four pitches, an abrupt loss of control. Then Diaz hit a two-run home run, crushing a sweeper left over the heart of the plate way out to left-center field.
“There’s physical errors and there’s mental errors,” Buehler said. “I think that’s a little bit of both.”
Buehler finished six innings having allowed four runs, four hits, and four walks.
It was the first time he gave up more than three runs in a game since late June. Since the start of July, he has a 3.69 ERA.
“Kind of bookended by [expletive],” he said. “But I feel pretty good about the middle.”
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.