Rich Hill struggles as Boston Red Sox lose to Astros, 6-1; Brayan Bello leaves with groin injury

HOUSTON — Rich Hill’s return to the mound did not go as planned Wednesday afternoon, and as a result, the Red Sox were not able to finish off a three-game sweep of the first-place Astros.

Hill, making his first start since July 1, allowed four runs in three innings as Houston won, 6-1. Boston’s bats struggled to get anything going against Houston righty José Urquidy (with help from new catcher Christian Vázquez) as the Red Sox fell back to .500 at 53-53.

Xander Bogaerts’ solo home run in the top of the ninth accounted for the lone Red Sox run.

Houston got their scoring going early, plating two runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, José Altuve singled and Jeremy Peña doubled before Yordan Alvarez’s RBI groundout made it 1-0. Alex Bregman made it a 2-0 game with a sacrifice fly. An inning later, Hill allowed a leadoff single to Kyle Tucker before new addition Trey Mancini crushed a two-run shot to left field.

Hill departed having allowed four runs on six hits in three innings. He was replaced by Brayan Bello, who faced four batters before leaving the game with a left groin strain. It’s unclear if he’ll miss time.

Urquidy dominated Boston’s lineup, not allowing a baserunner until he hit Alex Verdugo with a pitch in the fifth. In the sixth, after Houston plated two more runs (on Tucker’s two-run double off Kaleb Ort), Reese McGuire broke up Urquidy’s no-hit bid with a single in his Red Sox debut. In total, Urquidy struck out 10 (tying a career-high) and allowed just two hits and no walks in seven innings.

In total, the Red Sox had just four hits, including two by McGuire in his first start for his new team. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak and marked Boston’s first defeat of August. By winning the first two games in Houston, the Sox clinched their first series win since July 24-26. They have won four of seven.

Kansas City trip starts Thursday

The Red Sox will fly to Kansas City on Wednesday night and end their road trip with a four-game set against the Royals, which begins Thursday evening. Here are the pitching probables:

Thursday, 8:10 p.m. ET — RHP Nick Pivetta (8-8, 4.47 ERA) vs. LHP Kris Bubic (2-6, 5.45 ERA)

Friday, 8:10 p.m. ET — TBD (potentially RHP Josh Winckowski) vs. RHP Zack Greinke (3-6, 4.41 ERA)

Saturday, 7:10 p.m. ET — RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-3, 4.11 ERA) vs. LHP Daniel Lynch (4-7, 4.70 ERA)

Sunday, 2:10 p.m. ET — RHP Kutter Crawford (3-3, 3.86 ERA) vs. RHP Brad Keller (5-12, 4.61 ERA)

Related links:

Rich Hill will start for Boston Red Sox on Wednesday with Brayan Bello following in relief: ‘We need to reset the bullpen today’

Chaim Bloom will talk with Xander Bogaerts, others about Red Sox’s moves: ‘He’s the first guy I want to talk to in this clubhouse’

Red Sox’s Alex Cora pays tribute to late Vin Scully: ‘The man was special,’ says former Dodgers infielder

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