(SportsRadio 610) - Trailing 2-1 in the American League Championship Series, the Astros will rely on future Hall of Famer Zack Greinke to help even things up Tuesday against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Greinke after the Astros' 12-3 loss to Boston acknowledged the significance of this moment, trying to avoid a 3-1 series deficit with a potential closeout game at Fenway on Wednesday.
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To make matters worse for Houston, its bullpen was taxed once again, with starter Jose Urquidy going only 1 2/3 and giving up six runs, five earned, including a grand slam to Kyle Schwarber in the second inning.
No Astros starter has given them three full innings so far this series. They have not given more than 4 1/3 since Lance McCullers Jr.'s dominant performance against the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS.
Framber Valdez, who pitched well against the Red Sox twice in the regular season, only went 2 2/3 in Houston's Game 1 victory. Luis Garcia was pulled after an inning of work in Game 2, when the Red Sox hit grand slams in each of the first two innings.
The plan was for Urquidy to give the Astros as much length as possible, even if the quality was not quite there. Instead, a premature bullpen game puts even more pressure on Greinke to go deep Tuesday, despite only being stretched out to about 40 pitches.
Greinke's injury issues in September caused two stints on the injured list. He dealt with a COVID-19 bout, then neck soreness held him out for 11 games. Greinke was activated from the injured list on the last day of the regular season, when pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief in his first bullpen appearance since 2007.
Greinke last pitched against the White Sox in Game 3 of the ALDS. He threw one scoreless inning in the Astros' only loss of that series.
Brandon Scott manages digital content for SportsRadio 610. Follow him on Twitter @brandonkscott.
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