Houston @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 27, 2013 ) Houston 4, Boston 8

The Boston Red Sox will try to tie a club record for wins in April when they host the Houston Astros in the finale of their four-game series Sunday. Boston has already matched its best start since 2002 by winning its last four games. The Red Sox are 6-1 since designated hitter David Ortiz rejoined the lineup after missing the first three weeks while rehabbing his Achilles’ tendon. He showed what he can provide in Saturday’s 8-4 win over the Astros, collecting two hits and three RBIs. Dustin Pedroia, hitting in front of Ortiz, appears to be getting good pitches to swing at. He’s 9-for-19 in his last five games.

Houston struck out 12 more times Saturday, boosting its major-league lead to 244. Another constant for the Astros has been the play of leadoff hitter Jose Altuve. He had another base hit Saturday to give him 33 on the season, fourth most in the majors. He has hit safely in 12 of the last 13 games to boost his average to .340. Carlos Pena, meanwhile, is hitless in his last five games, dipping his average to .188. This is after he batted .197 in 160 games last season and .196 in 144 games in 2010. The 34-year-old is a long way from the player who batted .282 and hit 46 home runs in 2007.

TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet Houston, New England Sports Network (Boston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Bud Norris (3-2, 4.13 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH John Lackey (0-1, 4.15)

Norris bounced back from his brutal start April 17 against the Oakland Athletics and threw five quality innings Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners, allowing one run and eight hits in the 3-2 victory. That start was more reminiscent of the seven shutout innings he threw against the Los Angeles Angels on April 12. He needs to prove he can make back-to-back quality starts, something he did last May when he won four in a row before losing 12 straight decisions. Norris has faced Boston one other time in his career, a 2011 start in which he struck out 10 in six innings but did not earn a decision in the 7-5 win by the Red Sox.

Lackey hasn’t pitched since April 6 against the Toronto Blue Jays, when a biceps injury cut short his first appearance since 2011. The condition was deemed unrelated to the Tommy John surgery he underwent last season. "What he felt in Toronto was probably just the result of getting his arm speed and velocity to levels he had not (experienced) for a while,'' said Red Sox manager John Farrell, who's hoping to get five innings out of Lackey but will surely take six. Lackey has faced Houston once in his career, back in 2007, when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pena is 8-for-30 in his career off Lackey with three home runs.

2. Red Sox SS Stephen Drew scored two runs in Saturday’s win after scoring twice in the first 13 games.

3. Boston RHP Daniel Bard, the primary setup man for the Red Sox in 2010 before struggling at the end of the 2011 season and into 2012, was removed from Saturday’s game in the eighth inning after throwing eight of his nine pitches out of the strike zone.

PREDICTION: Astros 5, Red Sox 3