Fenway damp hampers Steven Wright’s knuckleball, Red Sox’s fortunes

1:08 AM ET

BOSTON — Boston Red Sox right-hander Steven Wright was through four innings at Fenway Park on Friday night with a 5-1 lead over the Houston Astros. It had the feel of another runaway victory for a team that had outscored opponents 56-17 during a five-game winning streak.

If only the rain had let up.

“Yeah, huge factor. It got to the point where I couldn’t keep anything dry,” Wright said when asked if the wet weather had led to his demise, which included a four-run fifth inning and an eventual 7-6 loss. “You’re trying to throw a pitch with your fingers, it makes it a little slippery, hard to get finger pressure.”

“It got to the point where I couldn’t keep anything dry,” Red Sox knuckleballer Steven Wright, for whom grip is particularly important, said of Friday’s messy outing. AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

Of course, Wright is speaking of his vaunted knuckleball, the driving force behind the 1.52 ERA with which the right-hander entered the night. The Astros had some good cuts at the pitch early in the game, but a few loud outs — including two on a line-drive double play that stifled a potential rally in the third — helped Wright get to the middle innings relatively unscathed.

In the fifth, a leadoff double and a bunt single set things up for the top of the Astros’ order. The rain was at its heaviest around this time and Wright — whose arsenal …

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