Boston’s Christian Arroyo bites his bat as he heads back to the dugout after striking out against the Houston Astros in the fifth inning Tuesday. Winslow Townson/Associated Press
BOSTON — Carlos Correa and Yordan Alvarez homered to back Framber Valdez, and the Houston Astros ended Boston’s five-game winning streak, beating the Red Sox 7-1 Tuesday night.
It was the Astros’ fourth win in five games against Boston this season after taking 3 of 4 last week in Houston. The Astros have outscored the Red Sox 26-10 overall.
Valdez (2-0) allowed one run and five hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out eight to pick up his second straight win over Boston. He held the Red Sox to one run in seven innings last week.
Enoli Paredes got the final two outs in the eighth and Blake Taylor pitched a scoreless ninth.
Red Sox starters entered the game having gone five or more innings 50 times in 2021, tied for the most in the majors.
But Boston starter Martín Pérez (4-3) lasted just two innings, allowing six runs off six hits. It was his shortest outing in 12 starts and stopped his streak of four consecutive wins.
Relievers Matt Andriese, Brandon Workman and Phillips Valdez combined to allow five hits and one run over the rest of the game.
Pérez was coming off pitching 7 2/3 scoreless innings against Houston last week to lead Boston to its sole win in that four-game series.
The Astros made sure he had a much shorter outing in this one.
Correa put the Astros up 1-0 in the first, driving Pérez’s sixth pitch of the game down the left-field line and off the foul pole for his 11th home run of the season.
It turned out just to be the preamble to a deluge of Houston runs the following inning.
Michael Brantley and Kyle Tucker led off a five-run second with back-to-back doubles and Martín Maldonado drove them in with his single into the left-field corner.
Myles Straw got aboard with a walk before Pérez finally got his first out of the inning, striking out Jose Altuve.
It was a brief reprieve.
Correa doubled to score Maldonaldo and after Pérez intentionally walked Alex Bergman to load the bases, then hit Alvarez, scoring Straw.
Yuli Gurriel then singled to make it 6-0.
Alvarez hit his eighth homer in the fourth.
NOTES: C Kevin Plawecki left the game in the third with a jaw contusion after taking a ball hard off his mask. He was replaced by Christian Vázquez. … DH J.D. Martinez returned to the lineup following a three-game absence after he jammed his left wrist sliding into a base against the Yankees last week.
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