Powered by home runs from George Springer and Carlos Correa, Houston took a 2-0 series lead and showed how big the gap is between the two teams.
HOUSTON — Ever the optimist, Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell sat behind his desk in the visiting clubhouse here Friday morning and said he’s more likely to pitch Chris Sale in Game 5 of the American League Division Series than bring him back on short rest in Game 4.
At this point, Farrell might as well just pencil in Sale for Opening Day.
Let’s just go ahead and call this best-of-five series what it is: A colossal mismatch. The Red Sox might have won 93 games and a division title, but they can’t hang with the Houston Astros. Not even a little bit.
The Astros bash home runs and eschew strikeouts with equal proficiency; the Red Sox have less power than any team in the league and often struggle to mount big rallies. The Astros have a right-left combination atop their rotation with Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel; the Red Sox have a fatigued Sale and a good bullpen that rarely is handed a lead.
And the gap between the teams has been on full display over the past two games. On Friday, one day after opening the series with an 8-2 rout of the Red Sox, the Astros applied another 8-2 thumping that left a few marks, including the aggravation of a left wrist injury for Mookie Betts, Boston’s star right fielder and best all-around player.
All that stands between the Red Sox and a second consecutive three-game Division Series sweep — and, in turn, an AL Championship Series date for the Astros — is 34-year-old right-hander Doug Fister, who was unemployed until the Sox claimed him off waivers in June and will start Game 3 Sunday at Fenway Park.
And so, the question of when Sale might pitch again is far less relevant than why the Red Sox’s core of young players has been so outclassed by their Astros’ counterparts.
Jose Altuve was a one-man wrecking crew in Game 1, becoming the ninth player ever to hit three homers in a playoff game. In Game 2, the Astros were powered by the full might of the top half of their batting order, the engine that drives an offense that might be historically prolific.
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Carlos Correa and George Springer, held largely in check in the series-opener, both homered against Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz, who failed to record an out in the third inning. Correa added a two-run double in a four-run sixth inning that broke open the game and finished with four RBI.
And once the Red Sox fell behind, they lacked the offensive firepower to come back. At one point, Keuchel retired 13 batters in a row. Before that, though, the Sox made him throw 30 pitches in the second inning and still came away with only one run, with Xander Bogaerts and Dustin Pedroia unable to deliver a big hit with two runners on base.
Houston’s dominance doesn’t come as a surprise. The teams closed out the regular season by playing a four-game series in Boston. With the Red Sox trying to clinch the AL East and the Astros looking to catch the Cleveland Indians for the best record in the league, three of the games were meaningful. Yet the Astros were three of four games, outscoring the Red Sox by a 22-13 margin.
Including the first two games of the Division Series, the Astros are 5-1 against the Red Sox in the past six games, outscoring them 38-17.
Mercy.
While the Astros are one victory from reaching the ALCS for a second time in three seasons, the Red Sox are in danger of getting swept in the first round for the second consecutive year. With a young core of Betts, shortstop Bogaerts, left fielder Andrew Benintendi, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr., third baseman Rafael Devers and catcher Christian Vazquez, the Red Sox have been no match for either the Astros or the Cleveland Indians, the two best teams in the league.
