With the game tied at 8 heading to the 10th inning Friday night, Red Sox manager John Farrell decided to test rookie reliever Noe Ramirez against the top of the Houston Astros’ order. But in his Major League debut, Ramirez’s outing didn’t go quite like he or the Red Sox might have hoped.
The Astros scored four runs in the 10th against Ramirez and went on to a 12-8 victory in the series opener at Fenway Park.
“We had some pretty good momentum going our way, so I was just trying to keep that momentum on our side,” Ramirez said. “I just made too many mistakes. That’s a really good-hitting team over there.”
Advertisement
Ramirez started his outing by hitting Jose Altuve in the left arm. Then Preston Tucker reached on an error by Sox first baseman Mike Napoli as Tucker’s shot went between Napoli’s legs and into right field.
Carlos Correa singled to left field to score Altuve from second base and give the Astros a 9-8 lead. Luis Valbuena popped to left field for the first out of the inning before Domingo Santana hit a grounder at Pablo Sandoval that went for an infield single. Sandoval dived and grabbed the ball, but didn’t have an option to throw when he got up as the Astros loaded the bases.
Jon Singleton singled to right field to score Tucker and Correa, and move Santana to third base, as the Astros extended the lead to 11-8. Chris Carter struck out swinging for the second out before the Astros pulled out some tricks.
With Jason Castro at the plate, Houston executed a double steal. Santana stole home to make it a 12-8 game while Singleton swiped second base. Finally, Castro flew out to center to end the inning.
“I just wasn’t trying to let the game rush,” Ramirez said when asked about the 10th inning. “So, I mean, I’ve been in tough situations before so I just got to go on to the next pitch, man, got to just keep battling.”
Advertisement
Ramirez was called up from Triple A Pawtucket earlier in the day, as outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. was optioned back to the PawSox.
Ramirez said he didn’t feel too nervous as he became the first Red Sox pitcher to make his debut in extra innings since Junichi Tazawa in 2009.
Tazawa wasn’t used in the 10th inning because he threw a bullpen session earlier in the day. Farrell wanted to avoid having him warm up twice in one day.
“I was, obviously, really excited to get out there,” Ramirez said. “But, as far as nerves go, I mean, I didn’t really feel that, felt pretty good.”
In 16 appearances with Pawtucket this season, including one start, the 25-year-old Ramirez had a 2.42 ERA and 4-0 record in 26 innings pitched. He had 23 strikeouts to 11 walks.
Despite the tough outing, Ramirez did take away some things to build on.
“I got to limit my mistakes,” Ramirez said. “I left too many balls up in the zone. That’s something that good-hitting teams are going to take advantage of. So just definitely limit my mistakes, keep the ball down a little bit, and slider, throw it [with] more conviction.”
Wayne Epps Jr. can be reached at wayne.epps@globe.com.