Early Astros lead doesn't last as Boston avoids sweep with 10-3 win

After being limited to four total runs in the first two games of the series, the Boston Red Sox offense came alive in Game 3 of the ALDS to avoid the sweep and force a Game 4.

Boston rallied for 10 unanswered runs after falling behind early in the 10-3 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday in Boston, fueled by strong performances from the bottom of their lineup.

For the third time in as many games, the Astros jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Josh Reddick drove in the first run with a RBI single to score George Springer, followed by a two-run homer to center by Carlos Correa, making it back-to-back games with first-inning homers and giving the Astros a 3-0 lead.

After putting two on base and getting just one out in the second inning, Red Sox manager John Farrell had seen enough of Doug Fister and brought in Joe Kelly. Kelly was able to get out of the jam thanks to Mookie Betts saving a would-be home run from Reddick at the right-field wall.

Brad Peacock got into his own trouble in the bottom half of the second, giving up back-to-back singles to start the inning followed by a walk to load the bases. Sandy Leon put the first run on the board for Boston with a RBI single to make it a 3-1 game. Peacock battled back, though, and got out of the inning with a strikeout, groundout, and fly out.

Peacock would not fare as well in the bottom of the third, however, giving up back-to-back two-out hits to Mitch Moreland and Hanley Ramirez allowing Boston to trim the lead down to 3-2, and resulted in A.J. Hinch ending Peacock's day. Liriano was brought in to get the last out of the third but was unable to do so before giving up a go-ahead two-run home run to Rafael Devers, giving Boston their first lead of the game and series, 4-3.

The score would remain 4-3 in Boston's favor all the way to the seventh inning as both teams would go to long relievers; David Price for the Red Sox and Lance McCullers for the Astros, his first relief appearance since moving from the starting rotation to the bullpen. Price was impressive, going four scoreless innings, while McCullers would pitch into the bottom of the seventh but be pulled in favor of Chris Devenski after giving up a walk and single. Devenski gave up a single of his own to load the bases with no outs, then allowed the Red Sox to extend their lead to 7-3 after a two-RBI double by Ramirez and blooper RBI single by Rafael Devers, resulting in another call to the bullpen.

Joe Musgrove came in next and did not fare any better, giving up a three-run home run to Jackie Bradley Jr. to blow the game open for Boston and extend the lead to 10-3. Boston would get shutout innings from Addison Reed and Carson Smith to wrap up the 10-3 win.

Next Game: The first pitch of Game 4 from Fenway Park is scheduled for 12:08 PM CDT Monday and can be seen on FS1. Unless the Astros change their minds, they are scheduled to send out Charlie Morton, who finished the regular season with his strongest month, posting a 4-1 record and 2.54 ERA in September. The pitcher for Boston has not yet been named.

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This story originally appeared on SportsMap.