The thought for the Red Sox heading into the 2017 ALDS against Houston was that the Sox just had to win one game without Chris Sale on the mound as it was something of a given that the lefty would dominate Houston in two of the five games.
In Game 1 Thursday in Houston, Sale had his worst start his Red Sox tenure – allowing seven earned runs on nine hits in five innings. Sale gave up three home runs to the Astros in an 8-2 Boston loss.
Jose Altuve belted three homers for the Astros, two against Sale and one against Austin Maddox.
Xander Bogaerts, Dustin Pedroia and Jackie Bradley Jr. all went hitless for the Red Sox who scored one run in the second and one run in the fourth.
Drew Pomeranz will get the ball for the Sox on Friday in Game 2 in Houston (2 p.m., Fox Sports 1). Game 3 is Sunday (2:30 p.m.) at Fenway Park.
