Boston hitters have been methodical against Astros

Entering Game 5 the Red Sox had scored 25 runs in the ALCS, but only had three home runs in that span, with all three coming in Houston. Boston shortstop

Xander Bogaerts said that’s at least partly by design.

“There’s not a lot of home runs, but I think if it’s ‘go big or go home,’ we would probably go home,” Bogaerts said. “These (Astros) have a good pitching staff. The ‘big’ approach is not the best one against these guys. Just try to single, put up good at-bats and get walks, and hopefully the next guy can do damage.

“In the playoffs it’s not ideal to try and swing for the fence. You’re just not going to get good results.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said a methodical approach is the best one against the Astros’ stellar staff.

“They lead the world in strikeouts,” Cora said. “That’s what they do. They pitch it to the edges. They go up in the zone and they go down — the vertical effect. Everybody knows what they’re going to do. We live in an era where hitting .210 and 30 home runs and 70 RBIs is becoming acceptable.

“We want (our guys) to put the ball in play. They’ve had a very humbling approach throughout the series — staying up the middle, fouling off pitches and going the other way, putting the ball in play with two strikes. … We knew how excellent (the Astros) are at striking out people, and we’ve been doing a good job of putting the ball in play.”

This Pearce popup was a welcome sight

Boston manager Alex Cora was like everyone else in Minute Maid Park on Wednesday night — amazed first baseman Steve

Pearce quickly hopped up from flipping over the Astros’ dugout rail in hot pursuit of a foul ball in the seventh inning.

Pearce didn’t reach the wayward Josh Reddick pop up, but he did achieve immediate Twitter immortality by going head over heels — and receiving quick help from his opponents in the dugout.

“I was hoping he was in one piece, honestly,” Cora said. “It was a very dangerous play. He had a shot at catching it, and we love the effort. And that’s what the kids do here with us. They go all in, and I’m happy he’s OK.”

Cora referring to Pearce as one of the “kids” prompted some smiles in the Minute Maid interview room. Cora is 43, Pearce 35.

Game against L.A. was primer for Cora

Red Sox manager Alex Cora spent last season as the Astros’ bench coach, so he was a part of the epic fifth game of the World Series the Astros won 13-12 in 10 innings over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Cora said that served as a primer for Wednesday’s notquite-as-epic 8-6 Red Sox victory that ended with Boston left-fielder Andrew Benintendi diving for a catch of Alex Bregman’s sinking liner in the ninth with two outs and two runners on.

“Game 5 of the World Series, that prepared me for (Wednesday) night,” Cora said with a chuckle. “That (Game 5) was the worst best game ever.”

The World Series classic ended with Bregman collecting a gamewinning single in the lone extra inning.