By Sean McAdam
CSNNE.com Red Sox InsiderFollow @sean_mcadam
HOUSTON -- Sometimes good teams have to find ways to win ugly games.
Case in point: the Red Sox' 7-5 victory over the Houston Astros Friday night.
For the first six innings, the Red Sox appeared to be sleepwalking their way through another dispiriting loss to an inferior National League opponent.
It happened last week at Fenway when the Sox dropped two straight to the last-place San Diego Padres. It happened again when they lost the first two games of their series in Pittsburgh last weekend.
And two-thirds of the way through Friday's game, it seemed to be happening again.
Never mind that the Sox' starting lineup was missing no fewer than three regulars: Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, and, of course, David Ortiz. And never mind that Astros starter Bud Norris, against whom the Sox were 0-for-17 after Marco Scutaro's leadoff homer, is an underrated and talented pitcher.
This was still the Red Sox, owners of the second-best record in the American League, against the Astros, owners of the worst record in baseball.
Boston Red Sox
But then the Astros managed to find a way to do what bad teams do: self-destruct. And the Red Sox, conversely, found a way to do what good teams do: take full advantage.
With Norris's pitch count up over 100, one run in and two baserunners on, Houston manager Brad Mills, probably with some reluctance, went to his bullpen.
On poor teams like the Astros, there's no softer underbelly than middle relief, as the Astros quickly demonstrated. A steady parade of young relievers marched in from the Houston bullpen, each contributing a little bit to the ongoing meltdown.
In the span of five batters, the Red Sox went: single, hit batsman, strikeout, two-run single, two-run double.
Ballgame.
Houston provided the opening and the Red Sox walked right through, stealing the opener of the weekend series.
That was significant, too. Player after player in the Red Sox clubhouse noted that the victory, however unsightly, provided the Red Sox an opoprtunity to do what they had been unable to do on their previous two National League stops.
In both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, the Red Sox had dropped the series openers, putting them in a position to have to win two in a row just to win the series.
Argue if you will that the Red Sox had no business trailing a team as poor as the Astros by four runs with three innings left to play. The counter-argument might be that they had no business winning a game in which they managed just one hit in their first 18 at-bats.
But they did. Which is what good teams do, especially with the aid and assistance of a bad one.
Sean McAdam can be reached at smcadam@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Sean on Twitter at http:twitter.comsean_mcadam