Jose Altuve hits for cycle, Astros demolish depleted Red Sox 13-5

All season long, the Red Sox have stayed afloat due to the newfound depth in their farm system.

It’s how they’ve stayed somewhat in the Wild Card race far later in the summer than most experts projected, and why they are a fourth-place team with a winning record, rather than a last-place team under .500.

But at this point in the season, it’s becoming clear that as deep as they’ve gotten compared to the last few seasons, it’s just not enough to carry them into October.

Red Sox starting pitchers have struggled to go deep into games, and Monday night’s 13-5 loss was no exception. Chris Sale lasted 4 ⅔ innings, and after he departed, Kyle Barraclough pitched the remainder of the game, wearing an unimaginable loss to protect the team’s depleted bullpen.

The game started out well enough. Sale began with back-to-back strikeouts and worked around a two-out walk for a scoreless first. He was able to keep the Astros mostly off the board during his stint. He struck out six, walked two, and gave up three earned runs on seven hits. At 92 pitches, it was his longest outing since May 20, when he’d thrown 111.

Triston Casas gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and when the Astros managed to overtake them with a 3-2 lead in the fifth, Adam Duvall snatched it back with a 2-run homer, his sixth round-tripper in his last eight games. Masataka Yoshida reached base safely all five times, a new MLB career-high.

But with Sale out of the game, Barraclough took over and couldn’t get outs. Recalled from Triple-A on Monday, the right-hander got the last out of the fifth inning, then imploded in the sixth. He began the frame by walking back-to-back batters, then gave up an RBI triple to José Altuve, giving the Astros back the lead. He followed that up by hitting Alex Bregman with a pitch, and giving up a 3-run homer to Yordan Alvarez.

Suddenly, a game that had been close was decidedly not; Houston led 8-4 and the inning still wasn’t over. Barraclough walked back-to-back batters again, then loaded the bases by hitting Chas McCormick with a pitch. Yainer Diaz, who’d led off the inning with a walk and scored, came to bat for the second time in the frame, and singled to drive in a run. Only then did Barraclough get the second and third outs.

Barraclough had faced 12 batters, issued four walks, allowed three hits, and given up six earned runs. He’d only struck out Martin Maldonado, the last batter of the inning.

As the calamity intensified, Alex Cora stood pat in the dugout. When Barraclough returned for the top of the seventh, it was crystal clear: the Red Sox manager had waved the proverbial white flag.

Why, though? This game had been winnable even after Altuve’s go-ahead triple in the sixth. The Astros are a Wild Card team and the Red Sox continue to maintain that they’re trying to be one, too.

According to the Red Sox manager, it was because he had no other choice. “We’re still resetting (the bullpen),” a frustrated Cora said. “We had a lot of guys down.”

Barraclough allowed two more runs in the seventh and hit Alex Bregman for the second time, but only faced the top seven batters in the Astros lineup.

No surprise, Houston’s combined eight runs between the sixth and seventh innings totally deflated the Red Sox, who went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh.

By the eighth inning, it was no surprise to see Barraclough back on the mound. It was then that Altuve achieved a new career first:

Hitting for the cycle, the first by an Astros hitter since 2013.

Staring up at a 13-4 deficit, Cora decided something good should come out of this game, and sent Ceddanne Rafaela in to make his Major League debut.

The 22-year-old infielder-turned-outfielder took over in centerfield in the top of the eighth, but didn’t have much to do other than watch Altuve’s home run for the cycle. In the bottom of the frame, he stepped up to bat for the first time, and sent the first pitch into shallow right for his first Major League hit.

Unfortunately, the Red Sox No. 3 prospect also got his first taste of how merciless the Majors can be when Rob Refsnyder popped up, and Altuve tossed the ball to Jose Urquidy. The pitcher tagged Rafaela out at first for a unique inning-ending double play.

Welcome to the Show.

Mauricio Llovera had finally begun warming up in the Boston bullpen during the eighth inning, but Barraclough came back out for the top of the ninth.

Monday was Day 14 of a 16-day stretch of games without a day off. With starting pitchers not going deep enough into games, Brennan Bernardino on the COVID-related injured list, and other issues, the bullpen is in dire need of rest.

At the same time, plenty of rest awaits in the postseason. And if the Red Sox can’t pull off a miracle, theirs will begin on Oct. 2.