The Boston Red Sox have a winning record on the season in hot pursuit of the American League East pennant. Alex Cora's team remained eleven games out of first place in a tightly contested game against the Houston Astros on Monday night.

The team has at least four major concerns heading down the stretch of the playoff chase. Morale in the clubhouse has been a key focus according to Kenley Jansen, who revealed what the Red Sox must do to make baseball's second season.

On Monday night against the Astros at Minute Maid Park, announcer and former World Series hero Kevin Millar made a prediction that quickly came true, reminding some of Babe Ruth famously ‘calling his shot' with the rival Yankees.

The Red Sox had won five of their last seven games heading into Monday night's action, with the lone two losses coming on the road against the Washington Nationals.

Duvall has continued to provide power from his center field position as the Red Sox have scored six runs or more in four straight games. Reactions to his Monday shot on MLB Twitter were strong.

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Red Sox add to Orioles misery with historic inning

The Red Sox jumped out to a 3-0 lead before falling behind 4-3 to the Astros as of the bottom of the fourth inning on Monday.

Starter James Paxton gave up 3 earned runs and 7 hits in 3.1 innings. Alex Verdugo, Masataka Yoshida and Duvall all scored runs for Cora's team.

The game came a day after Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke candidly about the Yankees' embarrassing 1-8 record against the rival Red Sox on Sunday.