Red Sox leave bases loaded 3 times in 6-3 loss to Astros

Boston Red Sox

Starting pitcher Connelly Early also tossed his worst outing of the year.

The Boston Red Sox’ 20th loss was a microcosm of the 2026 season.

Boston fell 6-3 to the Houston Astros Saturday by way of several failed scoring attempts and starting pitcher Connelly Early’s worst start of the year.

The Red Sox’ starting rotation woes have been killer. But the repeated inability to plate runs has been just as toxic a trait.

Boston left the bases loaded to end three separate innings: the third, fifth, and seventh frames. The club finished the day 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

The Red Sox drew seven walks and collected eight hits on the day, but their lineup simply couldn’t get it done, regardless of high traffic on the bases all game long.

They showed flashes of being able to drive in runs with runners on base. Of the Red Sox’ three runs, one came on a sacrifice fly and the other two via RBI singles.

Failing to generate runs during their many other chances and leaving 10 runners on base to finish the evening was not a recipe for success, however.

Boston’s interim manager Chad Tracy said he was pleased with the number of times his hitters got on base, but realizes they need to take advantage of those opportunities.

“I think if you’re looking at positives, we created a ton of traffic, which is what we’ve talked about here,” Tracy told reporters postgame. “We want to give ourselves chances, right? We gave ourselves a lot of chances. It’s just a matter of – when you get some of those, if you can pop a double or execute, it changes things.

“When you looked up there, you’re like, ‘Man, it felt like we had an enormous amount of baserunners today.’ We just gotta capitalize.”

Early didn’t necessarily do his team any favors on the mound, giving up five earned runs on the day. Three of them came via a Brice Matthews three-run home run in the fourth inning.

The 24-year-old left-hander threw 77 pitches (50 strikes) in his four innings of work, allowed six hits, three walks, and struck out three. Early was handed a no-decision.

After the game, Early said something was off during his start.

“I just didn’t really feel like myself,” Early told reporters. “Didn’t have my best stuff today, so definitely a grind of a day. But at this point, it’s just, get in the training room, get in the weight room, and attack for the next outing.”

When asked to elaborate on why specifically he didn’t feel like himself, Early didn’t offer up much information.

“Just felt a tad off,” he said.

Tracy pointed to the Astros’ talented and hard-hitting lineup as a challenge for Early to face, which featured power threats like Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker. Walker homered twice on the day and once off Early.

“I think the story there is that the top half of their lineup is the ones that put the at-bats on him,” Tracy said of Houston. “When you get behind, you’re kind of fighting an uphill battle. It’s a good lineup, so you’re fighting an uphill battle against good hitters, and I think that was more the thing today.”

Early didn’t give the Astros as much praise.

“I mean, every team’s a good lineup. It’s the big-league level,” Early said. “I think it’s more like, focus on myself. I just didn’t execute to the best of my ability today.”

Boston is 0-17 when down by two runs at any point in the contest this season.

The Red Sox will look to win the weekend series Sunday at 1:35 p.m. Eastern Time.