Sam Aldegheri can’t find zone in loss to Red Sox

The Astros won this game 6-3 despite being outhomered three to one and outhit 11 to six. Altuve has homered in back-to-back games and also has a triple, a double and three walks during his current four-game hitting streak.

Imai appeared to be dealing with a finger issue that led to a visit from a trainer at one point. It’s the third time in five starts that Imai has failed to make it out of the fourth. In the other two outings during the span, he allowed three runs with a 21/1 K/BB over 12 innings. The talent is there, but the consistency probably won’t be until maybe next year. He’ll be available to start Sunday against the Rangers, but it’s unclear if he’ll get the nod.

Using Hader for a third straight day wasn’t the plan. Alimber Santa opened the ninth with a 6-2 lead and gave up a homer and a single while getting two outs. The Astros went to Hader then, and the lefty allowed an infield single and a walk before striking out Dylan Crews to end the game. He’ll certainly be off Wednesday after this, so Bryan Abreu might wind up with a save chance.

Alvarez also hit a batter and the Astros went 3-for-3 stealing bases against him, which helps explain how he gave up five runs despite allowing just four singles and no extra-base hits. Alvarez has walked 21 in 47 innings in the majors this year. He’s managed a 3.64 ERA anyway, but he can’t keep putting guys on base like this. Since he won’t be needed to make another start before the break, the Nationals might send him down to the minors to keep him sharp.

Last year, Wood hit his 24th homer in his 92nd game of the season and then need 22 games to finally connect on his 25th. This year, Wood also hit his 24th homer in his 92nd game and then needed about 24 hours to connect on No. 25. It seems like a good omen as he looks to finish with more than 31 this time around.

Osuna drew a walk and scored a run in the second inning before coming through in a big spot for the Rangers. With two runners on and a two-run lead in the eighth, he extended the Texas lead with a three-run blast off Sam Bachman for his first home run of the season. The 23-year-old outfielder is hitting .252/.343/.296 with 20 runs scored and 18 RBI across 182 plate appearances.

Foscue entered the game as a pinch hitter to lead off the seventh inning for the Rangers. He came through with a solo homer off Tayler Saucedo to tie the game. Foscue later added a base hit to drive in another run in the eighth before crossing home for his second run scored. The 27-year-old infielder has been limited to a short side platoon, hitting .284/.355/.537 with six homers and 17 RBI across 107 plate appearances.

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker told reporters afterwards that deGrom was battling a hip issue that limited him to just five innings out of an abundance of caution. The 38-year-old veteran expressed optimism that he’ll be ready to take the ball for Sunday’s first-half finale against the Astros. He gave up a pair of runs in the first inning on a walk and two hits. He then tossed four more scoreless frames, scattering three more hits and one walk while striking out seven batters. He’ll carry a solid 3.49 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a 122/22 K/BB ratio across 100 2/3 innings into his final first-half outing this weekend.

Soriano tossed a scoreless first inning, then gave up two runs on two walks and a hit in the second. He settled in for four more scoreless frames, giving up just one more hit the rest of the way before departing after six innings with four strikeouts. The 27-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 3.40 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and a 115/51 K/BB ratio across 106 innings. He’ll take on the Twins in Minnesota on Sunday.

Yeah, Tyler Tolbert. He went 2-for-2 before being lifted from Saturday’s game, didn’t play Sunday, went 5-for-5 with a homer and a double (his first two extra-base hits of the season) on Monday and started off 5-for-5 with another homer and three infield singles tonight. Just the homers in back-to-back games is surprising enough from Tolbert. He was without a homer in his previous 49 games between Triple-A and the majors this season. He had four in 129 minor league games in 2024 and four in 93 games between Triple-A and the majors last season. Before going 2-for-2 on Saturday, he was hitting .200 in 35 major league at-bats this season. He’s now at .396. He also has 10 steals after getting one tonight. Tolbert probably won’t keep hitting, but he is an elite basestealer and the Royals figure to give him regular playing time for at least a little while after this surge. Those needing steals could do worse.