Kiké Hernández went 4-for-5, with two home runs and a double, and he made a handful of excellent catches in center field. It turns out what the Red Sox really needed him to do was pitch. Or slap some sense into manager Alex Cora's head.
The Astros had taken a 4-3 lead in the seventh on Carlos Correa's solo homer. The Red Sox were retired in the top of the eighth, as Cora made the questionable decision to use Danny Santana as a pinch-hitter . The strategy, such as it was, failed. So now, it was beyond essential that Houston not score any additional runs.