Red Sox take problem with pitching, whereas Astros search extra runs

There’s nothing wrong with the Boston Red Sox offense, but the same can’t be said about the team’s pitching. The Red Sox enter Friday’s game against the visiting Houston Astros starving for a strong effort on the mound.

Boston is averaging an MLB-best 6.5 runs per contest in 18 games since the All-Star break but ranks only ahead of the Chicago White Sox (6.22) with a team ERA of 5.96 during that span. Boston’s starting pitchers had a 9.20 ERA during a six-game road trip that ended with an 8-4 loss to Kansas City on Wednesday.

Although the Red Sox posted a 4-2 record during that trip, their starters pitched 29 1/3 innings in those six games.

“It doesn’t sit well with our pitching group,” Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey told MassLive.com. “And I’m pretty sure I can speak for the pitchers in there, we don’t want to have so many games where the offense has to dig us out of holes or have comebacks and then have to score again.

“We just have to keep grinding away. We’re doing as much as we can on the information side of things to make sure that we’re executing our pitches when we need to, getting into counts that we need to and limiting walks as best as possible. We’re finding a lot of barrels right now and we have to find ways to adapt around that.”

The Red Sox announced Wednesday that Nick Pivetta will skip his next turn in the rotation because of arm fatigue. They are scheduled to start All-Star right-hander Tanner Houck (8-8, 3.09 ERA) in Friday’s three-game series opener against Houston right-hander Ronel Blanco (9-6, 2.98).

Houck hasn’t won since pitching in the All-Star Game, with two losses in four starts, including Saturday in a 7-4 defeat at Texas. He is 0-1 with two saves and a 3.52 ERA in three career appearances (one start) against Houston.

Blanco has lost three of his last four starts with one no-decision in the team’s victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 27. He has never pitched against Boston.

Unlike the Red Sox, the Astros have been struggling to score. Houston beat Texas 6-4 on Wednesday but had been held to 11 total runs in its previous five games.

The Astros collected 13 hits Wednesday, when seven players had at least one hit.

“It was a big win,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “We did a lot of things well.

“This is a good offense. It’s going to flip at some point. You just have to keep grinding, keep talking to the players about quality at-bats. What they’re trying to do to us. What teams see us do. Some tendencies that we’re doing — teams are watching that — so we have to just adjust.”

Houston’s Yordan Alvarez enters Friday’s game with a .351 average in road games, the highest among players in the American League.

After going hitless in four at-bats during his major league debut on Tuesday, Houston’s Zach Dezenzo went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored twice in Wednesday’s win. He was Houston’s designated hitter Tuesday but was used at first base Wednesday.

Dezenzo is Houston’s No. 4 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

“It was Day 2, he put Day 1 behind him.” Espada said. “He looked like he belonged out there. He really looked very confident. He played really good defense. His at-bats were solid. He hit some balls hard. He took some good hacks. He was aggressive, he was confident. I like it a lot.”

Boston has a 34-24 record on the road but is 27-28 at home. Houston is 32-26 at home, 27-29 on the road.

–Field Level Media