Price Strikes Out 12, Red Sox Beat Astros 11-1
BOSTON -- David Price finally gave his new home crowd what it was waiting for Thursday night.
Boston's $217 million free-agent signing left to a standing ovation after striking out 12 in 6 2/3 innings and helping the hot-hitting Red Sox to their fifth straight win, an 11-1 rout of the Houston Astros.
Price, 6-1 with a 1.95 ERA in 11 career starts at Fenway Park as a visitor, brought an 8.34 Fenway ERA from his first four 2016 starts into this game. Getting a tip from second baseman Dustin Pedroia concerning the pitcher's leg kick in relation to his hands, Price, who had allowed at least six earned runs in three of his last four starts overall, was strong.
Price's velocity, still under what it has been in the past, was up a tick -- as high as 96 mph (once) after topping off at 93 in his previous start. He struck out three batters in an inning three times, yielding one run on six hits. He gave up four hits and struck out six in the first two innings before raising his record to 5-1 and dropping his ERA from 6.75 to 6.00.
Meanwhile, Boston's bats stayed hot.
Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer off struggling ace Dallas Keuchel (2-5) in the first inning and added an RBI single and Mookie Betts belted a three-run shot in the sixth as Keuchel was tagged for eight runs.
Jackie Bradley Jr. delivered an RBI single in the second inning to extend his career-high hitting streak to 18 games and Hanley Ramirez had three of Boston's 14 hits and also walked. David Ortiz had a sacrifice fly and a double.
The Red Sox have 56 runs on 69 hits during their winning streak, including 51 and 62 hits in four home games this week. They have reached double figures in runs in each of the four games, the first time since 2007 that has happened for Boston.
Keuchel, 27-14 at home but 16-26 on the road in his career, lost his fourth straight decision and hasn't won since April 15. He has yielded at least five earned runs in four of his last five starts, three of them on the road, where he is 1-4 with a 7.04 ERA.
The Red Sox jumped on Keuchel quickly, with Dustin Pedroia rolling a single up the third-base line and Bogaerts extending the team's streak of games with at least one home run to 13 with his two-run homer.
The Red Sox have outscored their opponents 40-11 in the first inning this season.
After the Astros got a run back in the top of the second -- the big hit being Erik Kratz's double -- the Red Sox scored in the bottom of the second to make it 3-1. A wild pitch set Bradley up for a bouncing RBI single up the middle, the 25th RBI of his hitting streak.
Ortiz and Ramirez had back-to-back doubles and Chris Young singled home the fifth Boston run in the third inning.
Price used a double play to escape a jam in the Houston third before the first 1-2-3 inning by either team in the game came in the visitors' fourth. Keuchel then did the same in the bottom of the inning.
Jose Altuve led off the fifth inning with his second single, but Price then picked up his eighth, ninth and 10th strikeouts, finishing five innings with 91 pitches.
NOTES: The Astros have two roster moves to make when RHP Lance McCullers (shoulder) and C Jason Castro (paternity leave) return Friday. McCullers is making his 2016 debut in the second game of the series. ... Former Red Sox P Roger Clemens was at Fenway Friday taking part in a Jimmy Fund event that saw him throw batting practice to auction winners. ... Astros RF George Springer, a Connecticut native and a UConn teammate of Boston RHP Matt Barnes, finally made his Fenway Park debut Thursday after an injury kept him out of the lineup in the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He went 2-for-4. ... RHP Steven Wright, who starts for the Red Sox on Friday night, has gone at least five innings, allowing two runs and six hits or less in each of his last nine starts dating back to last season. That is the longest such streak by a Sox pitcher in the last 100 years.
