• SOLOMON: TOUGH START FOR COLE. C4
Cole stumbles out of the gate, recovers too late to stop Red Sox from pulling even in series
BOSTON — If the Astros win the World Series, pitching will be what does it for them.
Oh, they will have spectacular offensive games, thanks to a depth of clutch hitters that is as impressive as any team in the league, but the 2018 Astros, start with pitching.
It is rare when one of those talented arms lets the team down, as was the case Sunday night in Game 2 of the AL Championship Series.
There isn’t much margin for error in playoff baseball, and Gerrit Cole, uncharacteristically, dealt a costly one to himself on a night when he didn’t start out with his best stuff.
Cole had perhaps his worst outing of the season, statistically at least, and he made matters worse by committing an error that led to an unearned run in the first inning, as the Astros fell to Boston 7-5 at Fenway Park.
At some point this postseason, the Astros’ pitching was going to get got. Few would have predicted this would be the night. It was obvious in the first few pitches that the usually reliable Cole, one of the best pitchers in baseball all season, wasn’t his usual dominant self.
Breaking balls not sharp
His fastballs were clocked at 98 miles an hour, but his breaking balls weren’t doing what they’re supposed to do. Or what Cole needed them to.
Home plate umpire Vic Carapazza didn’t give him a called strike on a fastball that looked as good as any that were credited as strikes for Boston’s David Price in the top of the first.
Perhaps that threw Cole off. Because Mookie Betts blasted his 3-1 offering off the centerfield wall for a leadoff double. Andrew Benintendi ripped the next pitch to left for a runscoring single.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch described the quick assault as an ambush.
After getting a line-out, Cole scooped up a ground ball and made the smart call in eschewing the double-play attempt by throwing to first base. But his throw was high, allowing the runners to reach safely. He then walked Steve Pearce on four pitches to load the bases.
Just 14 pitches in, his outing was on the brink of disaster. Rafael Devers singled home a run for the only other damage or it could have been worse.
“I thought he was a little over-amped,” Hinch said. “He was pretty excited. A lot of energy.”
One wouldn’t expect nerves could get the better of the 28year-old righthander, who has four other postseason starts to his credit. The first-inning miscue was just his second error of the season.
In two of their first four playoff games, the Astros never trailed. In the other two, their largest deficit was one run. So, they were in this position for the first time this postseason. They responded like champions, scoring two runs in both the second and third innings to retake command.
Marwin Gonzalez had the big blow, a two-run homer over the Green Monster off Price to quiet the Fenway crowd.
But the Sox weren’t done with Cole yet.
A single and a double put runners in scoring position, and the latter sent Gonzalez slamming into the outfield wall. He lay on the field for a while and got up gingerly, but stayed in the game.
Cole walked the next batter on four pitches — a quasiintentional pass — then Jackie Bradley Jr. cleared the bases with a three-run double deep into the leftfield corner.
Playoff-worst performance
Cole showed tremendous composure to last six innings, but the damage was done.
It was such a stark difference from his first playoff outing with the Astros, when he was nearly unhittable in striking out 12 batters without a walk in an ALDS win over the Indians.
Cole gave up a career playoff-worst five runs, the most he has allowed all season. He had just five strikeouts. Only once this season has he had fewer.
Cole, who set an Astros record for strikeouts per nine innings, buckled down and held the Red Sox scoreless in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, retiring the final 10 batters he faced.
“I mean, tough one tonight,” Cole said. “Had to grind a little bit. I was pleased I was able to save the bullpen and get in a rhythm toward the end.”
Hinch said he even considered bringing Cole back out for the seventh inning. He probably wishes he would have.
Lance McCullers came out of the Astros’ bullpen and allowed a insurance run that didn’t make matters any better. Granted it wasn’t all on McCullers, as catcher Martin Maldonado, who is out there for his superb defensive skills, committed two passed balls that allowed the Red Sox to score a run without a hit in the seventh.
The Astros head home in good shape at 1-1 in the series. Though there are concerns, they remain confident.
“Obviously we wanted to win this one, and I wasn’t able to shut them down there after we answered back for the second time against Price, but I feel like we’re in good shape,” said Cole, whose next outing could be back at Fenway for Game 6 or at home for Game 1 of the World Series.
Why so confident? This is was bad as Cole can be, and the Astros still had a chance. jerome.solomon@chron.com twitter.com/jeromesolomon