Top of the Morning: Red Sox beat sloppy Astros 6-1 behind Lucas Giolito’s stellar start

BOSTON — Trevor Story and Ceddanne Rafaela had consecutive RBI singles in a six-run fourth inning filled with five Houston mistakes, Lucas Giolito pitched a season-high eight stellar innings, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Astros 6-1 on Sunday to complete a series sweep.

Connor Wong added a sacrifice fly and Wilyer Abreu was credited with a sacrifice on a safety squeeze for an RBI during the inning, sending Boston to its third straight win over the AL West leaders and fourth in a row overall.

Giolito gave up the run on three hits with four strikeouts and a walk, eclipsing his previous season-high innings of 7 2/3 on July 4.

Carlos Correa, acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline, hit a homer for Houston, which has lost eight of 10.

The game’s first pitch was 11:38 a.m. EDT, the third time this season the Red Sox began a game in the morning. The others: their annual Patriots’ Day game when they beat the White Sox and the Independence Day victory at the Nationals.

Framber Valdez gave up six runs, four earned, over six innings, ending his personal 10-game winning streak. He entered 10-0 with a 1.84 ERA in his previous 14 starts.

During the fourth, Houston missed a cutoff on Story’s run-scoring single, Valdez had a wild pitch, balked home a run and had Abreu’s bunt go under his glove for an error. Yainer Diaz had a passed ball.

Valdez hadn’t allowed three runs in an inning since May 19.

Astros: RHP Jason Alexander is slated to start the opener of a three-game series at the Marlins on Monday.

Red Sox: RHP Brayan Bello is set to start the first of three against the Royals on Monday.

___

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.