HOUSTON — Alex Cora has squeezed every last drop out of this Red Sox team that was never expected to make it to this stage.

But two wins away from an improbable World Series berth, it finally dried out.

It started better than anyone could have imagined and hit a road bump with poor play and a COVID-19 outbreak that threatened their playoff hopes. They overcame it to make the postseason, win the Wild Card game over the Yankees and upset the defending American League champion Rays in the Division Series before putting a serious threat into the Astros.

But three nights after seeming to be in full control, the magic ran out. Cora finally lost consecutive games as a manager in the playoffs, and these Red Sox who were so resilient all year didn’t have one last run in them in Houston.

A season that began with three consecutive losses, the Red Sox defied all who had written them off to get to this point, but it ended in heartbreaking fashion with three consecutive losses after they had taken a 2-1 series lead over the Astros. Their offense went silent, never woke up and now they’ll have to spend all winter wondering what went wrong after a 5-0 loss to the Astros in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

After scoring 23 runs over the first three games of the ALCS, the Red Sox went into perhaps their worst slump of the season at the worst time. They scored three runs over their final three games, dominated by Astros starters Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia over the final two. After producing just two hits, the Red Sox’ final act ended on a Xander Bogaerts fly out to left, inducing an Astros celebration on the field.

The Red Sox wasted a great effort from Nathan Eovaldi, who didn’t get much help from his offense, or in the first inning, his defense. Alex Bregman hit a two-out single before Alvarez picked up where he left off from his dominant Game 5, crushing a pitch to right-center. But Kiké Hernández, who has been one of the best center fielders in baseball this season, got to the ball and uncharacteristically dropped it. The ball bounced off the inside of his glove.

Instead of an inning-ending out, Bregman scored from first on what was ruled a double for Alvarez.

It was the only run needed because Garcia was dealing against a lost Red Sox lineup that was swinging at everything the rookie right-hander was throwing, including a fastball that was averaging almost 3 mph faster than the ones he threw all season.

Eovaldi deserved better, especially after his Houdini-like escape in the fourth inning. He gave up a leadoff single and double to Bregman and Alvarez to put runners on second and third with no outs, but somehow kept the Astros scoreless. After strikeouts of Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker, he put Yuli Gurriel on first with an intentional walk to load the bases for Chas McCormick.

Eovaldi made easy work of him, striking him out swinging on a curveball to end the threat.

That could have marked a turning point, but the Sox’ offense continued to fail to support their ace as they went down in order in the fifth.

Eovaldi recorded just one more out as Cora pulled him after just 63 pitches, turning to Josh Taylor and his bullpen.

Cora, doing anything he could to find a run, went to his bench in the sixth. He called on little-used Danny Santana to pinch hit for Kevin Plawecki, but it went as expected as Garcia got him out on an ugly strikeout for his seventh punchout of the game

The Red Sox went hitless for 5 2/3 innings, but it was still 1-0 when Hernandez finally smoked a triple to left-center, narrowly missing a game-tying homer. That ended Garcia’s night as the rookie walked off to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd at Minute Maid Park.

But facing another critical moment, the Sox couldn’t take advantage. Rafael Devers swung on the first pitch he saw from Phil Maton, ending the inning on a pop up to shortstop.

Any momentum created from Hernandez’s triple was officially gone when Alvarez beat the shift in right for his own triple. Two batters later, after Tanner Houck made his first appearance since Game 1 and plunked Correa with a pitch, Tucker hit a sharp grounder to first, where Kyle Schwarber got an unassisted double play. He tagged Correa and stepped on first, but Alvarez was running and beat the throw home to make it a 2-0 game.

The Red Sox tried to get another rally going in the seventh when J.D. Martinez walked and Alex Verdugo singled to right, putting runners on the corners with one out. Cora again went to his bench, pinch-hitting Travis Shaw for Christian Arroyo.

But the situation went as poorly as it possibly could. With a full count at the plate, Verdugo took off for second. Shaw swung and missed for the strikeout, and catcher Martin Maldonado threw a seed to second, just in time for Correa to apply the tag on Verdugo. It sent the crowd into a frenzy. Maldonado pumped his fist on his chest twice, while Verdugo walked back to the Red Sox dugout with his head down. It was their final real chance of their night, and their season.