The Red Sox beat the Astros, 6-1. Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images.
Trevor Story and Ceddanne Rafaela had consecutive RBI singles in a six-run fourth inning filled with five Houston mistakes, Lucas Giolito pitched a season-high eight stellar innings, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Astros 6-1 on Sunday to complete a series sweep.
Connor Wong added a sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu was credited with a sacrifice on a safety squeeze for an RBI during the inning, sending Boston to its third straight win over the AL West leaders and fourth in a row overall.
Giolito (8-2) gave up the run on three hits with four strikeouts and a walk, eclipsing his previous season-high innings of 7 2/3 on July 4.
Carlos Correa, acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline, hit a homer for Houston, which has lost eight of 10.
The game’s first pitch was 11:38 a.m. EDT, the third time this season the Red Sox began a game in the morning. The others: their annual Patriots’ Day game when they beat the White Sox and the Independence Day victory at the Nationals.
Framber Valdez (11-5) gave up six runs, four earned, over six innings, ending his personal 10-game winning streak. He entered 10-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his previous 14 starts.
Key moment
During the fourth, Houston missed a cutoff on Story’s run-scoring single, Valdez had a wild pitch, balked home a run and had Abreu’s bunt go under his glove for an error. Yainer Diaz had a passed ball.
Key stat
Valdez hadn’t allowed three runs in an inning since May 19.
Up next
Astros: RHP Jason Alexander (1-1, 7.36 ERA) is slated to start the opener of a three-game series at the Marlins on Monday.
Red Sox: RHP Brayan Bello (7-5, 3.19) is set to start the first of three against the Royals on Monday.
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Astros hit with unexpected setbacks behind the plate
Aug 28, 2025, 12:10 pm
Yordan Alvarez homered for the first time since returning from a fractured right hand, helping Framber Valdez and the Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies 4-0 on Wednesday night.
Yordaddy is home. pic.twitter.com/MnHS2ohWH1
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 28, 2025
Alvarez hit a two-run drive off Angel Chivilli in the eighth inning for his fourth homer this season. The slugger was activated from the 60-day injured list Tuesday and went 0 for 2 with two walks in his first game back.
Valdez (12-7) allowed three hits — all singles — in seven innings. The left-hander struck out five and walked two.
Cam Smith also went deep for Houston, which remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Seattle for the top spot in the AL West.
CAM THE MAN SMASH pic.twitter.com/n9u8shRKD4
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 28, 2025
Injury updates
The Houston Astros placed catcher Victor Caratini on the concussion injured list on Wednesday, putting the AL West leaders in a bind behind the plate.
Yainer Diaz, another Houston catcher, is day to day with a left wrist injury. He was hit by an errant pitch from Craig Kimbrel while catching in the eighth inning of Sunday’s 3-2 loss at Baltimore.
The Astros recalled catcher César Salazar from Triple-A Sugar Land, and he got the start for Wednesday night’s game against Colorado.
Caratini took a foul ball off the mask during the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 6-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Caratini is batting .262 with a career-high 43 RBIs, while matching his career high with 11 homers in 95 games this season.
Diaz is batting .257 with 18 homers and 55 RBIs in 116 games this season.