Takeaways: Boston Red Sox Surge Past Houston Astros 5-4 To Tie Series

The Boston Red Sox took down the Houston Astros 5-4 in a back-and-forth game that saw two ties and three lead changes.

Triston Casas and Jarren Duran's home runs accounted for three of the five Boston runs and Duran's was a go-ahead shot against former Red Sox reliever Kaleb Ort in the eighth inning.

What are the main takeaways from Boston's game two win over Houston?

Nick Pivetta couldn't maintain a lead

A three-run first inning gave the Red Sox an important early lead, but Nick Pivetta was simply unable to keep runners off the bases. A sacrifice fly and two-out two-run home run squandered the 3-0 lead in the first and a second-inning sacrifice fly gave the Astros a 4-3 lead.

Manager Alex Cora had to force him through a fifth inning after the heavy bullpen usage last night and he gave up a second HR to tie the game. His inconsistency has been just about the only consistent part of his game and he will need to give Boston higher-quality outings through the rest of the season.

Triston Casas had an excellent rebound game

After an 0-for-4 day with three strikeouts in the first game, Triston Casas bounced back in a big way. His two-run HR in the first gave the team an immediate lead and an RBI single in the fourth inning gave them a 5-4 lead.

His first-inning HR was his first since being activated from the Injured List and it sailed into the second deck. Despite a violation strikeout in his second at-bat and some struggles against velocity, early on he's looked like the offensive force he's shown he can be when healthy.

Bullpen shut the Houston offense down

They have been the worst unit in baseball for a while now, but the Red Sox bullpen finally had their way with an opposing lineup tonight. Greg Weissert, Zack Kelly, Luis Garcia, and Kenley Jansen combined for four scoreless innings to allow the Boston offense to take over late

Red Sox fans can only hope that tonight starts a positive trend for the reliever group and at the very least it was a much-needed "pick me up" for the back end of the pen.

The Red Sox are now 66-59 on the season.

Game 3

The final game of the Boston Red Sox series against the Houston Astros is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 2:10 PM EST at Minute Maid Park, televised on NESN.