What a surprise
Sox finish with win after squandering Houck’s strong start
Tanner Houck swears his renaissance as a starter is because he now views pitching as a game of catch.
Much like a Little Leaguer warming up in the outfield grass, or Houck, even, on the back fields of Fort Myers, Fla., doing the same, the essence of his evolution from fringe starter to Red Sox ace encompasses doing what he’s always done, just on a bigger stage.
“I’m really just trying to execute my pitches and play catch with [Sox catchers Connor Wong and Reese McGuire],” Houck said recently.
It’s becoming hard to explain what Houck is accomplishing on the hill. How he’s carving up hitters in a way that seemed unfathomable a year ago. How each hitter looks equally confused and intimidated by his bevy of pitches.
On Sunday night against the Cubs, under the Fenway Park lights, Houck played yet another game of catch in the Red Sox’ 5-4 walkoff win that secured a series victory.
“He was outstanding,” Sox manager Alex Cora said.
Houck’s exceptional outing, though, almost fell in the backdrop of defeat.
The Sox had the contest and a series win in their grasp, only for it to be spoiled by Mike Tauchman’s three-run homer in the eighth inning that tied the score at four apiece.
Chris Martin took over for Houck with two outs in the seventh, and escaped the inning. But consecutive singles by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Nico Hoerner to open the eighth put the Red Sox in their first real tussle. Tauchman then clobbered a 2-and-1 Martin cutter to center field, deflating the crowd of 32,052 who showered Houck with a standing ovation the inning prior.
Yet the Red Sox refused to cower. Not after Houck hurled another gem that included nine strikeouts over 6„ innings.
Kenley Jansen worked a 1-2-3 ninth and was credited with the win. In the bottom of frame, Jarren Duran came back from an 0-and-2 hole to negotiate
a leadoff walk against reliever Mark Leiter Jr., the turning point in the contest.
“I knew he had a good split and he liked to work down,” Duran said. “I was just looking for a ball up [at] my chin honestly and he just kept living down.”
So, Duran eliminated the bottom of the zone, daring Leiter to locate a pitch in such a difficult spot. Duran spat on two pitches well beneath the zone to draw the walk.
The next batter, Rafael Devers singled through the left side, putting runners at first and third, and setting the scene for Tyler O’Neill, who came into the at-bat 0 for 3 with two strikeouts.
The Cubs brought in the infield while hoping to cut down Duran at the plate on a ground ball. However, O’Neill hit a shallow fly ball to left field, causing shortstop Dansby Swanson to retreat. Swanson tried to make a sliding grab, but the ball popped out of his glove, allowing Duran to score easily.
“Tanner is such a good pitcher,” O’Neill said. “He’s going deep into the ballgame for us every game. Same with Chris, he’s such a good pitcher, too. Obviously, just one big swing turned the tide for us. That’s why it’s a team sport. We got it done today.”
Houck, more than anyone Sunday or even this year, has gotten it done. The righthander retired 20 of his 24 batters, including the first 10. Back-to-back singles in the fourth with one out put Houck in his first bind. But, to understand how tough it is to hit against him, take the next batter he faced, Christopher Morel, as an example.
Houck stayed in on the righty with one out, unleashing a 1-and-1 sinker that Morel fouled off his front foot. On a 2-and-2 pitch, Houck went in again with a sinker, and again, Morel fouled the ball off the same foot, causing an injury delay. Later on in the at-bat, Houck tossed his sinker even more inside, handcuffing Morel into a check-swing third strike for the second out. Houck retired Michael Busch on a lineout to end the frame.
“I mean, I felt good with everything out there,” Houck said. “I started fighting myself a little bit and started feeling like I was [throwing] uphill a little bit.”
After a conversation with pitching coach Andrew Bailey in between innings, Houck proceeded to turn in his fourth start this season of at least six innings with one or no runs allowed. Houck has registered back-to-back starts of nine-plus strikeouts and no walks (though he did hit a batter Sunday). He joins Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens as the only Red Sox pitchers to notch that particular achievement.
Houck finished his first month with six starts and a 1.60 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP, and 41 strikeouts in 39‚ innings.
“I mean, the results are the results,” he said. “We work toward that and we push ourselves to have the best results we can. It’s a lot of time put into this game and a lot of sleepless nights of thinking how to get better. So, great first month of the season, but we got plenty of games left that you [have to] go out there and compete.”
And continue playing catch.