Shoddy defense dooms Red Sox in one-run loss to Astros

Houston — Thrust into an everyday role because of injuries, Jake Marisnick is making the most of his opportunity with the Houston Astros. Marisnick homered early off Chris Sale, then made two dazzling defensive plays in center field to help the Astros beat the mistake-prone Boston Red Sox 4-3 on Friday night.

“There’s not much not to like (about him) in a game like that,” manager AJ Hinch said. “When you’re a bench player ... you just want an opportunity. You just want a chance to show it. And he’s doing great things on the field. It’s pretty impressive.”

George Springer injured his left hamstring sliding to try and catch a foul ball in the eighth inning in his first game back after missing four games with a stiff back. He went on the 10-day injured list on Saturday.

In a matchup of the last two World Series winners, the Red Sox committed three errors, not looking nearly as sharp as they did in their last visit to Minute Maid Park when they captured the pennant with a 4-1 win in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series in October.

The Red Sox did end Ryan Pressly’s MLB-record streak of 40 straight scoreless appearances when Jackie Bradley Jr. launched the first pitch from the Houston reliever for a home run in the eighth inning.

All of Boston’s errors came in the first four innings to help the Astros build a 4-0 lead.

“You’ve got to play clean against them,” manager Alex Cora said. “They do more than hitting. They run the bases well, they’re very athletic. It was a weird one. It was one of those that, if we played better defense, we’d have a chance.”