HOUSTON – Andrew Benintendi charged in hard and left his feet.
Make the catch, Boston wins. If not ... no telling.
"I thought I could catch it and timed it up well," Benintendi said. "At that point, it was either do or die."
Benintendi made a diving play in left field with the bases loaded for the final out, giving the Red Sox an 8-6 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.
Craig Kimbrel earned a shaky six-out save, helped by a rocket throw from right fielder Mookie Betts and Benintendi's daring grab of Alex Bregman's sinking liner. Had the ball scooted past Benintendi, it easily could have scored three runs and won the game for Houston.
"Beni took a shot. Had a great jump. And he got it," Boston manager Alex Cora said.
Jackie Bradley Jr. hit another home run for the Red Sox, who also were boosted by a questionable fan interference call in a back-and-forth game. Jose Altuve was denied a two-run homer in the first inning and called out after fans reaching for the ball interfered with Betts' attempt at a leaping catch.
"Jose pays the biggest price, because the trajectory of the ball looked like it was going to leave the ballpark," Houston manager A.J. Hinch said.
