The Houston Astros exploded on Tuesday with five home runs in the second inning off Boston Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi. The Astros became the eighth team in major-league history to homer five times in one inning, and the third to do so against one pitcher.
Yordan Alvarez led off the second inning with his 12th home run of the season, which was followed a 2-run shot by Kyle Tucker, a solo home run from Jeremy Peña, a 3-run homer for Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel's 2-run blast that chased Eovaldi from the game after allowing nine runs (six earned) over 1 2/3 innings.
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Eovaldi threw just five pitches in the first inning before allowing five home runs in the second. He gave up 15 home runs all of last season but has allowed 14 this year for the most in the majors.
The last team to hit five home runs in an inning was the New York Yankees, who did it on Sept. 17, 2020, against Chase Anderson and the Blue Jays.
Houston continued its home run barrage with a grand slam from Tucker in the fourth inning off Tyler Danish. The Astros faced seven pitchers in their 13-4 win.
(Photo: Leslie Plaza Johnson / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Nathan Eovaldi gives up five homers in one inning: 'Kind of a helpless feeling out there'
What happened to Eovaldi in the second inning?
Chad Jennings, Red Sox writer: In some ways, Nathan Eovaldi's season caught up to him. His surface numbers — ERA, strikeout rate, walk rate — all suggest he's pitching just as well this year as he did last year, but under the hood, his Statcast numbers show a pitcher who's been hit much harder in 2022 than in 2021.
Home runs have been the most glaring issue. He already led the American League in home runs allowed this season, and that was before he gave up five in one inning.
How did the home crowd react to the Astros' home run explosion?
Jennings: The reaction was a mix of shock and anger. The Red Sox have been a disappointment this season, but Monday's game was a good win, and Eovaldi had breezed through the top of the first on just five pitches. Rafael Devers had homered, and the Red Sox were leading with a starting pitcher who (for one inning, anyway) seemed to be cruising. It was going really well for the Red Sox and their fans, until it very much wasn't.