Tanner Houck efficient in win over Blue Jays; takes 'huge step forward' this season
The 2024 Red Sox will finish with a better record than either they did in either of their last two seasons. After going 78-84 in the last two years, the Sox defeated the Blue Jays 4-1 on Monday night, earning their 79th win with five games left to play.
Boston is two wins shy of their first winning record since 2021. The Red Sox’ win also allowed them to avoid playoff elimination for another day. They are currently 3.5 games behind the third wildcard spot in the American League.
Tanner Houck gave the Red Sox five shutout innings, and in the process, he has reached 178 2/3 innings this season with a 3.12 ERA.
The righty was efficient in his outing, retiring the first 14 Blue Jays he faced and tossing just 57 pitches as he worked through five frames. He allowed just one hit and one walk and induced 10 ground ball outs in the process.
“It’s great, super efficient,” said Houck. “You got to be pounding the zone to get to that.”
With his start on Monday night, the Red Sox have two starters who have made at least 30 starts this season. Kutter Crawford made his 32nd start over the weekend against the Twins.
“Huge step forward,” Houck—who missed two starts this month with shoulder fatigue and thus was working on a modest pitch count for the second straight outing—said of reaching the 30-start plateau. “It’s been fun to really watch all three of us grow and kind of push past our limits and barriers and go through this full 162 together. It’s been great.”
Red Sox starters have been good over their last six games, posting a 1.39 ERA and a 2.43 ERA over their last 27, which is a MLB best.
The Red Sox pitching staff took a major step forward this season and have Houck, Crawford, and Brayan Bello in place to build around this offseason. Boston needs an ace to lead their rotation and hasn’t traded for one since acquiring Chris Sale following the 2016 season.
“They took a step forward, and that was to plan going into the season,” said Sox manager Alex Cora. “The way they’re finishing the season, let’s see what happens. They’ve been great.”
