Tag: tanner houck

Tanner Houck starting, hitting for himself Saturday as Red Sox go for series victory over Nationals

In their penultimate game of the regular season, the Red Sox will turn to Tanner Houck to start Saturday afternoon’s contest against the Nationals at Nationals Park.

The Sox came into the weekend having not named a starter for Saturday’s game, likely under the assumption that Houck could be needed out of the bullpen on Friday if Eduardo Rodriguez was unable to pitch deep into his final start of the year.

Instead, Rodriguez provided Boston with five-plus scoreless innings before five different relievers (Ryan Brasier, Matt Barnes, Darwinzon Hernandez, Adam Ottavino, and Hansel Robles) combined to close out a much-needed 4-2 win over Washington.

Houck, meanwhile, last appeared in a game this past Tuesday, allowing one earned run on three hits and one walk to go along with three strikeouts in a 4-2 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore.

The 25-year-old right-hander needed 41 pitches (27 strikes) to get through those two frames, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Eagle-Tribune’s Mac Cerullo) that the club will be treating Saturday as a normal start for Houck even though he will be working on just three days rest.

Since making his major-league debut last September, Houck has only pitched in a National League ballpark on two separate occasions — both of which came against the Marlins and Braves during last year’s COVID-shortened campaign.

Major League Baseball adopted the universal designated hitter rule for the 2020 season on account of the pandemic, meaning pitchers in National League ballparks did not have to hit for themselves.

That is no longer the case this year, though, as Houck will step up to the plate for the first time in his big-league career and bat out of the nine-hole for Boston on Saturday.

Here is how the rest of the Red Sox will line up behind Houck as they go up against fellow rookie right-hander Josiah Gray for the Nationals.

First pitch from Nationals Park Saturday is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN. As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, “a Red Sox win would mean Boston is guaranteed to play past Sunday, either in a tiebreaker game or the American League Wild Card Game on Tuesday night. If the Sox win their last two games, they are guaranteed a spot in the Wild Card Game.”

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

Red Sox injuries: Josh Taylor to have MRI on back; X-rays on Kevin Plawecki’s foot come back negative

In the process of blowing a late one-run lead and dropping a heartbreaker to the Yankees by a final score of 5-3 at Fenway Park on Saturday, the Red Sox were also dealt two blows on the injury front, though one may be considered more significant than the other.

For starters, Josh Taylor was not available out of the bullpen because of a back issue, Sox manager Alex Cora relayed following Saturday night’s defeat at the hands of the Yankees.

“Taylor is down,” Cora said. “He’s actually going to have an MRI tomorrow. His back has been bothering him, so we’ll see where we’re at with that, but he was down.”

With Taylor unavailable, Boston was left without an additional left-handed relief option in its bullpen, leaving Austin Davis and Darwinzon Hernandez as the two primary lefties who could be called upon.

After Tanner Houck issued a pair of two-out walks to New York’s No. 1 and No. 2 hitters in the top of the eighth inning, Cora was put into a spot where his side had a 2-1 lead to protect with a left-handed hitter in Anthony Rizzo due to hit next for the opposition.

That led Cora to turn to Hernandez for the left-on-left matchup with one out to get in the eighth. Hernandez, however, plunked Rizzo on a 3-1, 96 mph fastball to load the bases as the ever-dangerous, right-handed hitting Giancarlo Stanton loomed in the on-deck circle.

While Cora could not make another pitching change since Hernandez had yet to face the minimum of three batters, he did pay the 24-year-old a visit on the pitcher’s mound to have a brief conversation with him — as well as the rest of the Red Sox infield.

Cora’s pep talk did not pay off, though, as Hernandez proceeded to groove a first-pitch fastball down the heart of the plate to Stanton that the Yankees slugger crushed 452 feet over the Green Monster for what would turn out to be the game-winning grand slam.

In choosing Hernandez over Davis to face Rizzo, Cora was left to defend his decision during his postgame media availability, and he did just that.

“I mean, the fact that his stuff plays, right? He’s been throwing the ball well, and you always have to be prepared for the next hitter, right?” Cora said in regards to having Hernandez pitch in that spot. “It’s not that you’re thinking something negative is going to happen with the lefty (Rizzo), but we do believe that he can get the righty out, too, in that spot so we went with him.”

Coming into play on Saturday, Hernandez had actually fared better against right-handed hitters (.615 OPS) than left-handed hitters (.736 OPS against).

Davis, on the other hand, has given up just four hits to the 31 left-handed hitters he faced since joining the Red Sox as a trade deadline acquisition.

On the flip side of that, however, Davis has struggled against right-handed hitters (.886 OPS against) dating back to July 31, so Cora truly did have a difficult decision to make when taking the three-batter minimum rule into consideration.

“There’s two outs. We’ve got to get him (Rizzo) out there,” said Cora. “That’s why we went with Darwinzon. Because we do believe he can get the lefty and the righty out. It just didn’t happen. But the rules are the rules. We’ve been playing with them all season. It’s not the first time we had a situation like this. Just like he wasn’t able to pound the strike zone with the lefty.”

Regardless of which reliever was tasked with getting out of the eighth inning, Boston’s late-game collapse stems from Houck’s inability to throw strikes consistently.

The right-hander was dispatched in the seventh inning and walked the first two batters he faced on eight straight balls before escaping the jam on a double play off the bat of Gleyber Torres and a three-pitch strikeout of Gary Sanchez.

Houck proceeded to fan the first two Yankees he faced in the eighth as well and appeared to be on the verge of punching out the side when he had leadoff man Brett Gardner in a 1-2 count. He instead walked Gardner on six pitches before getting in another two-strike count against Aaron Judge that ultimately resulted in a six-pitch walk to bring Rizzo to the plate.

“We didn’t throw enough strikes in that inning,” Cora said. “We had two outs, 1-2 count, we weren’t able to put [Gardner] away. Then 2-2 count against Judge, we didn’t put him away. Obviously the walk to Rizzo [by Hernandez], but I think it goes back to the leadoff hitter. We had two outs and we made some good pitches, but not in the strike zone.”

—

In other injury-related news, Red Sox catcher Kevin Plawecki, who went 2-for-2 with a walk and a home run in Saturday’s loss, was struck in the right foot by a 98.5 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman during final plate appearance of the night in the ninth inning.

A hobbled Plawecki was removed from the contest and replaced at first base by the pinch-running Christian Vazquez, but Cora later revealed that X-Rays on the veteran backstop’s foot came back negative.

“It’s feeling better now. X-rays are negative, so that’s good,” Plawecki said. “Obviously sore, but we’ll get some treatment on it tomorrow and it shouldn’t be anything for me to really worry about. So, I dodged a bullet, I guess you could say.”

(Picture of Josh Taylor: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Darwinzon Hernandez gives up game-winning grand slam to Giancarlo Stanton as Red Sox squander late lead in 5-3 loss to Yankees

No longer donning their yellow City Connect threads, the Red Sox squandered a late lead and dropped their second straight to the Yankees in dramatic fashion at Fenway Park on Saturday.

Despite a strong performance from Nick Pivetta, Boston fell to New York by a final score of 5-3, marking their second consecutive defeat coming on the heels of a seven-game winning streak.

Pivetta, making his 29th start of the season for the Sox, rebounded from a rather short outing against the Orioles in his last time out by providing more length in Saturday’s contest against another American League East foe.

Over 5 1/3 frames of work, the right-hander surrendered just one run on three hits and zero walks to go along with seven strikeouts on the night.

One of the three hits Pivetta gave up came on a leadoff single off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton to begin things in the top of the second, but he kept Stanton at first base by punching out the next three batters he faced.

Pivetta nearly ran into more leadoff trouble in the third when Rougned Odor lifted a 385-foot fly to ball to the deepest part of right field, but it was one that stayed in the park for Hunter Renfroe, as the right fielder took a potential home run away while up against the wall for the first out of the inning.

While the Yankees had a home run taken away from them in their half of the third, the Red Sox made sure the same did not happen to them in their half of the third.

To that point, Yankees starter Nestor Cortes Jr. had held the Sox hitless by retiring each of the first seven batters he faced, but Kevin Plawecki quickly changed things in that regard.

Plawecki, catching Pivetta in place of Christian Vazquez, took the second pitch he saw from Cortes Jr. — a 1-0, 86 mph cutter on the inner half of the plate — and crushed it 408 feet off the leftmost light tower over the Green Monster.

Plawecki’s third homer of the season left his bat at a sizzling 106.9 mph, and it also gave the Red Sox their first lead of the day at 1-0.

Kyle Schwarber doubled that lead in the bottom of the fifth, as he led off against Cortes by drilling a single to right field. Bobby Dalbec, like Odor, nearly clubbed a two-run homer that was instead robbed by Aaron Judge in right field. Schwarber then advanced up to second on a base hit from Plawecki and an infield single from Jose Iglesias that loaded the bases with one out.

With right-handed reliever Michael King deployed to face off against Enrique Hernandez, Schwarber easily scored from third when a wild pitch from King that eluded Sanchez wound up rolling all the way towards the visitor’s dugout.

Though Schwarber was the only one to score in the inning, Pivetta was now given a 2-0 advantage to operate with. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to get through the sixth inning, as he issued back-to-back one-out hits to Gio Urshela and Brett Gardner that put the tying run in scoring position.

That sequence resulted in Pivetta getting the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora, with the 28-year-old finishing with a final pitch count of 90 (60 strikes). Of those 90 pitches, 55 were four-seam fastballs — seven of which led to swings-and-misses from Yankees batters.

Cora, in a tough spot, turned to Hansel Robles, who promptly uncorked a wild pitch past Plawecki that allowed Urshela to score from third while Judge was at the plate.

Gardner also moved up an additional 90 feet on the play, but he was gunned down at home plate by Devers when he attempted to score on a soft grounder from Judge, thus keeping the 2-1 lead intact for Boston.

From there, Tanner Houck took over for Robles in the seventh, walked the first two Yankees he faced on eight straight balls, but escaped the jam by inducing a 4-6-3 double play before getting Sanchez to whiff on an 0-2 slider in emphatic fashion for the final out of the inning.

In the eighth, after recording the first two outs, Houck issued another walk to Gardner, who — while representing the tying run — successfully stole second base. The righty then issued another free pass to Judge to put runners at first and second, and that prompted Cora to roll with Darwinzon Hernandez with the left-handed hitting Anthony Rizzo looming for New York.

Hernandez, however, plunked Rizzo to load the bases, meaning he was now tasked with facing the ever-dangerous Stanton, who wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity in front of him even after Cora took the time to talk things over with the lefty on the mound beforehand.

On a first-pitch, 94 mph fastball that was grooved down the heart of the plate by Hernandez, Stanton absolutely demolished a 452-foot grand slam well over everything in left field.

Stanton’s go-ahead, bases-clearing grand slam, which had an exit velocity of 114.1 mph, put the Yankees up for the first time all day, as it gave them a commanding 5-2 lead.

Luis Severino took that brand-new three-run advantage and ran with it, tossing two scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth before making way for Aroldis Chapman in the ninth.

Chapman, New York’s closer, got the first out of the inning before serving up a solo shot to Dalbec (his 24th) and plunking Plawecki on the right foot, which brought the tying run to the plate as Vazquez replaced his fellow backstop as the runner at first base.

Iglesias, representing that ever-important tying run, fanned on three straight strikes, leaving things in the hand of Hernandez.

Having gone 0-for-4 with two strikeouts to that point, Hernandez was unable to come through in the clutch — as he worked a full count before ultimately grounding out to seal the 5-3 defeat for the Sox.

With the loss, their second straight coming off a seven-game winning streak, the Red Sox fall to 88-67 on the season. They are now locked in a tie with the Yankees (also 88-67) for the top American League Wild Card spot.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Montgomery in rubber match

The Red Sox will wrap up the home portion of their regular season schedule by looking to salvage this series against the Yankees on Sunday night.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will get the ball for Boston in the finale of this three-game set, and he will be opposed by fellow southpaw Jordan Montgomery for New York.

First pitch from Fenway Park on Sunday is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. eastern time on ESPN.

(Picture of Kevin Plawecki: Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Red Sox break out for 6 runs in 10th inning to run away with 9-4 victory over Mariners in extras

It took nearly four hours to see it through, but the Red Sox were able to cap off their road trip in style with a hard-fought victory over the Mariners in extra innings on Wednesday (Roberto Clemente Day) afternoon.

Boston broke out for six runs in the 10th inning to top Seattle by a final score of 9-4, marking their second straight win and their third in their last five games.

Matched up against Mariners starter Marco Gonzales to begin things on Wednesday, the Sox struck early and often to jump out to an early 3-0 lead.

Right out of the gate, Hunter Renfroe crushed a 414-foot solo shot — his 28th home run of the season — off Gonzales in the top half of the first inning. In the second, Kyle Schwarber drew a one-out walk and Bobby Dalbec followed by drilling a ground-rule double to left-center field, paving the way for Kevin Plawecki to drive in a run on an RBI groundout.

Having moved up to third on that play, Dalbec scored on an RBI double off the bat of a seemingly red-hot Jose Iglesias to put Boston up by three.

To that point, Tanner Houck — making his 12th start of the year — had been cruising along for the Red Sox, taking a no-hitter into the third inning before giving up a one-out single to fellow rookie Jarred Kelenic.

Houck proceeded to yield another single to Tom Murphy that should have put runners at the corners, but instead scored a run and put a runner at second base when Hunter Renfroe attempted to gun down Kelenic at third, though his throw eluded Rafael Devers and wound up going out of play.

Kelenic was able to score as a result of Renfroe’s miscue, while Houck walked J.P. Crawford on four pitches, spiked a wild pitch into the dirt that put runners at second and third. The right-hander did get the second out of the third, but could not end it before serving up a two-run double down the left field line to Kyle Seager.

The momentum had shifted going into the fourth with the Mariners battling back to knot things up at three runs apiece. Houck, however, rebounded by punching out the side in the bottom half of the fourth before falling victim to Kelenic once again in the fifth.

The Mariners outfielder led off the fifth inning with a single back up the middle and proceeded to steal second base to put the potential go-ahead run in scoring position. Houck then fanned Tom Murphy for the first out of the frame, and that is when his day came to a close with the Seattle lineup turning back over.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 71 (45 strikes), the 25-year-old wrapped up his outing having allowed three runs — all earned — on four hits, one walk, and seven strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings of work.

Josh Taylor got the first call out of the bullpen from Red Sox manager Alex Cora, and the left-hander officially closed the book on Houck’s start by stranding the lone runner he inherited while recording the last two outs of the fifth.

Garrett Richards took over for Taylor in the sixth and worked his way around a leadoff single by inducing a 6-5-3 double play and getting a strikeout. The veteran righty was nearly rewarded for his effort a half inning later when a walk from Dalbec and two-out single from Iglesias put runners at the corners.

Alex Verdugo came off the bench to pinch-hit for Enrique Hernandez in that spot against right-handed Mariners reliever Paul Sewald and proceeded to lace a 102 mph line drive to left field.

Verdugo’s screamer, which had an expected batting average of .850, was caught by M’s left fielder Luke Fraley, however, and that kept things tied up at 3-3.

Richards, again, faced the minimum three batters in the seventh with the help of a smooth, inning-ending double play started by Iglesias.

After both Devers and J.D. Martinez reached base with two outs off Sewald in the eighth, Schwarber had an opportunity to replicate his late-game heroics from the night before, but flew out to center field to strand the pair of runners.

In the bottom half of the inning, Austin Davis got the first two outs despite Mitch Haniger reaching base on a throwing error committed by Devers, but Adam Ottavino was able work around that by fanning Ty France on three straight strikes.

With former Rays reliever Diego Castillo entering this game for the Mariners in the ninth, neither Dalbec, Christian Vazquez (pinch-hitting for Plawecki), nor Travis Shaw (pinch-hitting for Iglesias) mounted anything resembling a rally, as they were sat down in order.

Ottavino, having needed just three pitches to finish off the eighth, came back out for the ninth. He got the first two outs of the inning rather easily before plunking the pinch-hitting Jake Bauers in the leg. Bauers then stole second base while Kelenic was at the plate, but Ottavino left him there by fanning the top prospect to send this one to extras.

Before Ottavino came through when it mattered most, Jack Lopez had taken over for Shaw at second base. And since Shaw recorded the final out of the ninth, that meant Lopez started the 10th inning as the runner at second base.

With Erik Swanson now on the mound for Seattle, Boston got an immediate boost when Verdugo sliced a single to shallow left field. Lopez, who advanced up to third on Verdugo’s base hit, proceeded to score from there on a passed ball — giving the Red Sox their first lead since the second inning at 4-3.

A walk drawn by Renfroe and bloop single from Bogaerts filled the bases with one out for Martinez, who greeted new Mariners reliever Justus Sheffield by ripping a 107 mph RBI single to the left side of the infield that deflected off Crawford’s glove and brought in Renfroe from third.

That made it a 5-3 contest, but the Sox were not done there, as Schwarber provided some much-needed insurance by lining a two-run single to right field that plated both Bogaerts and Devers and opened up a 7-3 lead for his side.

Vazquez pushed across two more on a two-run, bases-loaded double down the right field line, thus capping off a six-run inning in which Boston sent 10 batters to the plate to give themselves a commanding 9-3 advantage.

Martin Perez was dispatched in the bottom half of the 10th. The left-hander, making his first appearance since being activated from the COVID-19 related injured list on Tuesday, did just that.

Perez did allow one unearned run, but ultimately slammed the door on the Mariners to preserve a 9-4 victory for the Sox.

With the win, the Red Sox secure their first series victory in Seattle since 2013 to finish off a 3-3 road trip and improve to 83-65 on the season. They also remain tied with the Blue Jays for the top American League Wild Card spot.

Next up: Welcoming in the Orioles to kick off the final homestand of 2021

The Red Sox will board a flight to Boston and enjoy a well-deserved off day on Thursday before opening up a three-game weekend series against the lowly Orioles at Fenway Park on Friday night.

Neither team has yet to name a starter for Friday’s series opener, but Boston is expected to activate ace left-hander Chris Sale from the COVID-19 related injured list — meaning that responsibility would fall to him.

Friday’s contest against the O’s will mark the beginning of the Sox’ final (eight-game) homestand of the season. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Kyle Schwarber: Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

Bobby Dalbec homers once again, but Red Sox fall short, 4-3, in series opener against White Sox

On a night where the two teams directly behind them in the American League Wild Card race both lost, the Red Sox were unable to take advantage of the opportunity in front of them and instead dropped their series opener to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Boston fell to Chicago by a final score of 4-3 on Friday night, marking their fourth loss in their five games.

Tanner Houck, making his 11th start and 13th overall appearance of the season for the Sox, was quite simply not as sharp as he was in his last time out.

Coming off an outing in which he tossed five scoreless innings where he walked none and struck out seven against the Indians last Saturday, Houck’s command of the strike zone was not as sharp on Friday.

Over just 3 2/3 innings of work, the right-hander surrendered four runs — three of which were earned — on four hits, three walks, and one hit batsman to go along with one strikeout on the night.

After maneuvering his way around a walk in the first and putting up a 1-2-3 second, Houck ran into some trouble in the bottom of the third, where he was just one out — and one pitch — away from escaping a jam with runners at first and second base.

Rather than getting out of the jam, though, Houck served up a 378-foot three-run home run to the vaunted Jose Abreu off a hanging, 0-2 slider on the outer half of the plate.

Houck’s struggles did not end there, as he issued a two-out single to Eloy Jimenez before plunking Yasmani Grandal to put runners at first and second once more, but got out of the inning when Christian Vazquez gunned down Jimenez at second base for the final out.

Still, even after running into an out, the White Sox added on to their three-run lead in the fourth, with Gavin Sheets leading off by reaching first base on a Jose Iglesias fielding error while playing in the shift, moving up to second on a six-pitch walk of Brian Goodwin, and up to third on a Cesar Hernandez groundout.

Once again, Houck was just one out from getting through four full frames, but instead allowed that runner from third to score on an RBI single off the bat of Luis Robert that gave Chicago a 4-0 lead and marked the end of the line for the rookie righty as he got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 70 (39 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler was ultimately hit with his fourth loss of the year while raising his ERA on the season to 3.54.

In relief of Houck, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez got the first call from Cora out of the Boston bullpen in order to face the switch-hitting Yoan Moncada from the right side of the plate.

Hernandez, in his first appearance since late July after being reinstated from the 10-day injured list on Friday, beaned Moncada to load the bases, but rebounded by getting Abreu to ground out to retire the side.

To that point in the contest, a J.D. Martinez-less Red Sox lineup had been held in check by White Sox All-Star starter Carlos Rodon. Bobby Dalbec, though, had other plans to lead off the top half of the fifth, as he stayed hot by crushing a 414-foot solo shot to deep left field.

Dalbec’s 21st home run of 2021 got the Sox on the board to make it a 3-1 game, but Rodon rallied by sitting down the final three batters he faced while former Red Sox prospect Michael Kopech got the first two outs of the sixth before running into some trouble himself.

Having seen Enrique Hernandez and Kyle Schwarber both punch out ahead of him, Hunter Renfroe changed the tone by drawing a five-pitch walk off Kopech and promptly moved up to second on a hard-hit single off the bat of Xander Bogaerts.

That brought Rafael Devers to the plate representing the tying run, and he — now matched up against left-handed reliever Aaron Bummer — could only manage a sharply-hit, inning-ending groundout that stranded yet another runner in scoring position.

Following scoreless innings of relief from Hernandez (in the fifth) and Michael Feliz (in the sixth), Dalbec again proved to be an offensive catalyst in his side’s half of the seventh.

With Ryan Tepera on the mound for Chicago, Dalbec lifted a leadoff triple just out of the reach of Goodwin in right field and quickly scored on an RBI groundout courtesy of Vazquez.

Danny Santana followed by ripping a single to right field and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch from Tepera.

Alex Verdugo, coming off the bench to pinch-hit for Jose Iglesias in that spot, brought in Santana from second by lifting a 196-foot run-scoring single to left field.

That cut Boston’s deficit down to one run at 4-3, but they were unable to push across another runner in that particular inning.

After Adam Ottavino danced his way around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, former Red Sox closer and current White Sox reliever Craig Kimbrel countered by stranding a runner of his own in the top of the eighth.

Ryan Brasier, who took over for Ottavino, put two of the four batters he faced on base, while Josh Taylor came in and plunked Moncada to load the bases with two outs.

Taylor did manage to strand the bases loaded by fanning Abreu to keep it at a one-run game going into the ninth, where the bottom of the Boston lineup would be squaring up against another All-Star in Liam Hendriks.

Vazquez led off the ninth with an infield single and moved up to second on a groundout from Santana.

With the potential tying run in scoring position, Verdugo grounded out sharply to shortstop for the second out of the inning, while Travis Shaw — pinch-hitting for Hernandez — flew out to center field for the third out, meaning 4-3 would go on to be Friday’s final score.

With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 80-63 on the season as their lead over the Yankees for the first American League Wild Card spot remains at one full game.

Next up: Seabold(?) vs. Cease

The Red Sox have yet to officially name a starter for the middle game of this three-game set on Saturday, though it seems likely that that responsibility will fall to right-handed pitching prospect Connor Seabold, who traveled with the club to Chicago as part of their taxi squad.

The White Sox, meanwhile, will turn to fellow right-hander Dylan Cease as they look to secure a series win.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec: Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Alex Verdugo delivers with walk-off single as Red Sox extend winning streak to four straight with 4-3 victory over Indians

In the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak that could ravage other teams’ postseason aspirations, the Red Sox are proving that they should still be taken seriously despite having placed nine players on the COVID-related injured list.

Saturday was just the latest instance of this resilience, as the Sox fought their way to a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Indians at Fenway Park to push their winning streak to four consecutive games.

Tanner Houck, making his 10th start and 12th overall appearance of the season for Boston, laid out the groundwork for his team’s fourth straight win by keeping Cleveland off the scoreboard while scattering just three hits, zero walks, and seven strikeouts over five strong innings of work.

Having just faced off the Indians on the road last weekend, Houck proved to be much more in control this time around by demonstrating better command on the mound.

The right-hander dealt with some traffic on the base paths, such as a leadoff single in the first inning or leadoff double in the third inning, but was otherwise solid as he retired the final nine batters he faced in order through the end of the fifth.

At that moment in time, Houck’s pitch count was relatively low, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora did not want him to go up against the Indians lineup for a third time, so his night promptly came to an end there.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 68 (47 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler did not factor into Saturday’s decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season to 3.26.

In relief of Houck, left-hander Austin Davis got the first call out of the bullpen in the sixth inning of a scoreless contest and immediately surrendered a leadoff double to Andres Gimenez to put the potential go-ahead run in scoring position.

Davis did manage to get the next two outs, but did so while allowing Gimenez to steal third before intentionally walking the dangerous Jose Ramirez and issuing another free pass to Bobby Bradley.

That sequence led to the Indians loading the bases with two outs in the sixth, and it led to Cora turning to Hansel Robles to get out of the jam.

Robles, in turn, got Harold Ramirez to rip a 97.2 mph grounder back up the middle that deflected off his foot and rolled over to Bobby Dalbec at first base in time to get the final out.

Phillips Valdez followed in Robles’ footsteps by tossing a scoreless top of the seventh, granting the Red Sox lineup to put something together in their half of the frame.

To that point, the Boston bats had been stymied by Indians starter Eli Morgan, but were able to get it going once the Cleveland bullpen took over.

Christian Vazquez led off against Nick Wittgren by lacing a hard-hit single to center field. Jack Lopez followed by moving Vazquez up to second on a successful sacrifice bunt, while Jonathan Arauz followed suit by advancing to Vazquez to third on a groundout.

Those two productive outs put the Sox in a promising position as the lineup flipped back over for Kyle Schwarber, who greeted new Indians reliever Blake Parker by drawing a five-pitch walk to put runners at the corners for Rafael Devers.

After working a full count on the first five pitches he saw from Parker, Devers took the sixth pitch — a juicy 92 mph fastball on the outer half of the plate — and came through with the clutchest hit of the ballgame to that point by clubbing a 419-foot three-run homer well over the Green Monster.

Not only did Devers’ 33rd home run of the season set a new career-high for the young All-Star and bring him up to 100 RBI on the year, it also gave the Red Sox their first lead of the night at 3-0.

Valdez, after retiring the side in order in the seventh, did the very same in the eighth, meaning the Sox were just three outs away from securing a series win over the Indians.

Adam Ottavino, however, had different plans, as he gave up a leadoff single to Ramirez to begin things in the ninth before yielding an RBI double to Bradley, making it a 3-1 game in favor of Boston.

The veteran reliever did get the first two outs of the ninth and was one strike away from retiring the pinch-hitting Franmil Reyes, but instead served up a game-tying, two-run home run to Reyes, thus knotting things up at three runs apiece.

To their credit, the Red Sox did not waver even after seeing their three-run lead come off the board. Travis Shaw, pinch-hitting for Lopez, led off the bottom of the ninth off Indians reliever Bryan Shaw by reaching base via an infield single.

Shaw was then replaced by the pinch-running Taylor Motter, who moved up to second on yet another sacrifice bunt from Arauz.

Schwarber then flew out to center field against Alex Young, while Devers drew a five-pitch walk off the newly-inserted Cleveland reliever.

J.D. Martinez got ahead in the count at 2-0, and was promptly intentionally walked to fill the bases with two outs for Alex Verdugo.

Verdugo, motivated by the Indians intentionally walking to get to Martinez since they had a left-hander in Young on the mound, made Cleveland pay for their decision by drilling a walk-off, run-scoring single over the head of Daniel Johnson in right field.

Motter was able to easily score from third on Verdugo’s late-game heroics, and the Sox came away with a 4-3 victory as a result.

By extending their winning streak to four straight games on Saturday, the Red Sox improved to 79-59 on the season and are once again 20 games over .500 for the first time since July 31.

With the Yankees and Athletics both losing on Saturday, Boston now has a four-game lead over Oakland for the second American League Wild Card spot and only trail New York by 1/2 a game for the first American League Wild Card spot.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Plesac

The Red Sox will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the mound as they look to complete the three-game sweep of the Indians on Sunday afternoon.

Pivetta will be going up against fellow righty Zach Plesac, who will be making his 21st start of the season for the Indians.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and TBS.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Hunter Renfroe leads the way with 2 homers as Red Sox hold on to defeat Twins, 11-9

Despite getting out-hit 14-11, the Red Sox were able to hold on to a series-opening, 11-9 victory over the Twins at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

Tanner Houck, just recalled from Triple-A Worcester earlier in the day, made his eighth start (10th overall appearance) of the season for the Sox, and he was not particularly sharp.

Over 4 2/3 innings of work, Houck allowed three runs — all of which were earned — on eight hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with six strikeouts on the evening.

The Twins got to the right-hander right away on Tuesday, as he served up a leadoff triple to Max Kepler to begin things in the top half of the first that was quickly followed by a one-out RBI single off the bat of Jorge Polanco to put the Sox in an early 1-0 hole.

Houck was, however, able to settle in by keeping Minnesota off the board in the second and third innings, and the Boston bats rewarded him for that in their half of the third.

Matched up against Minnesota starter Griffin Jax, Travis Shaw picked up where he left off on Monday and belted a leadoff home run 413 feet into the bleachers, marking his second straight homer in as many swings of the bat.

Shaw’s solo shot pulled the Sox back even at one run apiece, but the Twins countered by getting to Houck for two more runs in the fourth, with Luis Arraez and Nick Gordon each reaching base and Miguel Sano driving both runners in on a two-run single back up the middle.

That put the Twins back up by two runs at 3-1, though the Red Sox did not let their second deficit last all that long with Rafael Devers drawing a leadoff walk and Alex Verdugo ripping a one-out double to left field to put a pair of runners in scoring position for Hunter Renfroe.

Renfroe got his productive day at the plate started by taking a hanging, 83 mph slider from Jax and depositing it 374 feet over the Green Monster for his first of two home runs on the night.

Even with Renfroe giving the Sox a 4-3 advantage with his three-run blast, Houck ran into a bit more trouble in the fifth when he plunked the first man he faced in Brent Rooker and allowed him to advance up to second base on a wild pitch.

After punching out Polanco and getting Josh Donaldson to pop out to third base, Houck’s outing came to an unceremonious end as he got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 90 (54 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler did not factor into Tuesday’s decision, though he did raise his ERA on the season to 3.43.

In relief of Houck, Cora turned to Josh Taylor out of the Boston bullpen, and the left-hander — who ultimately earned his first win of the year — did his job by getting Arraez to ground out to second base to end the inning.

At the halfway point, the Red Sox were in possession of a 4-3 lead. With Jax still on the mound for the Twins, they made sure to pad said lead in the bottom of the fifth.

Enrique Hernandez, celebrating his 30th birthday on Tuesday, led off with a single and moved up to second base on a Minnesota fielding error.

Jax quickly recorded the first two outs of the frame, but Devers kept the rally alive by lacing a ground-rule, RBI double into the right field seats that brought in Hernandez from third to make it a 5-3 contest.

J.D. Martinez followed by drawing another walk, though he was quickly brought in on yet another double from Verdugo, which brought Renfroe to the plate in a prime run scoring spot.

On the fifth pitch he saw from Jax, another hanging slider, Renfroe took full advantage of that opportunity by crushing his second home run of the night — and 25th of the season — 420 feet over everything in left-center field.

Renfroe’s league-leading 10th homer in the month of August alone gave his side a commanding 9-3 lead, and at that point, it looked like the Sox were going to run away with another lopsided win over a last-place team.

That did not turn out to be the case, however, as Martin Perez struggled mightily in his relief appearance. After allowing one run on one hit and an RBI groundout in the top of the sixth, the lefty got rocked for two more runs in the seventh when he served up a two-run shot to Polanco.

Hirokazu Sawamura, working in relief of Perez, did not fare much better, as he walked one, gave up a single to another, and misdirected a wild pitch that allowed both runners to advance into scoring position with one out.

After fanning Mitch Garver, it appeared as though Sawamura was out of trouble when he got Nick Gordon to swing at a 93 mph splitter in the dirt.

Gordon, however, was able to just barely foul off the pitch to keep his at-bat alive, and he followed by lining a two-out, two-strike, and two-run single back up the middle to pull the Twins back to within one at 9-8.

Adam Ottavino, working in relief of Sawamura in the eighth, worked his way around a Jake Cave leadoff single (with the help of Christian Vazquez gunning Cave down at second base) and a two-out walk of Rooker in an otherwise clean inning.

Looking to add some insurance in their half of the eighth, the Red Sox offense got just that from Hernandez, who truly celebrated his birthday in style by following up a Vazquez leadoff single and clubbing a towering two-run shot over the Monster off Twins reliever Caleb Thielbar.

Hernandez’s 16th home run of the year, which traveled 425 feet and left his bat at 108.6 mph, put the Sox ahead 11-8, which would prove extremely beneficial a half inning later with Matt Barnes on the hill in the ninth.

To put it simply, Barnes’ August woes continued, as the Boston closer served up a leadoff homer to Donaldson before walking two straight to bring the go-ahead run to the plate — all without recording a single out in the inning.

That ugly sequence resulted in Cora turning to Hansel Robles, who promptly saved the day — literally — in the process of punching out two and recording the third and final out when he got Cave to line out to end the game.

By securing the 11-9 victory for his side, Robles was able to notch his 11th save of the year (and first with the Red Sox) while also topping out at 99.4 mph with his high-octane four-seam fastball.

With the win, the Red Sox improve to 72-55 on the season to increase their lead over the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot to two full games.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Ober

The Red Sox will go for the series win over the Twins and look to extend their winning streak to three consecutive games on Wednesday night.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta will look to bounce back as he gets the start for Boston, while fellow righty Bailey Ober will do the same for Minnesota.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox recall Tanner Houck from Triple-A Worcester, option Jarren Duran

Before opening up a three-game series against the Twins at Fenway Park on Tuesday night, the Red Sox recalled right-hander Tanner Houck from Triple-A Worcester.

In a corresponding move, outfielder Jarren Duran was optioned to Worcester, the club announced earlier Tuesday afternoon.

Houck will make his eighth start and 10th overall appearance of the season for Boston in Tuesday’s series opener against Minnesota. Through nine outings (eight starts) at the major-league level this year, the 25-year-old has posted a 3.12 ERA and 2.54 xFIP to go along with 46 strikeouts and seven walks over 34 2/3 innings pitched.

In his last time out, Houck served as the Sox’ 27th man in last Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Yankees in the Bronx. The righty allowed two earned runs on five hits, zero walks, and two strikeouts in four innings of work during the day cap of the twin bill and was promptly returned to Worcester shortly thereafter.

Under normal circumstances, the Red Sox would have to wait 10 days to recall Houck again, but they took advantage of the fact he was used as the 27th man for a doubleheader to call him back up after just one week.

In order to create a spot for Houck on the major-league roster, Duran winds up getting sent down to the WooSox.

Originally beginning the season with Worcester, Duran earned a big-league promotion during the All-Star break on July 16 after lighting it up against Triple-A pitching.

Making his major-league debut a day later, the speedy 24-year-old has since slashed .221/.236/.372 (56 wRC+) with three doubles, two triples, two home runs, eight RBI, 12 runs scored, one stolen base, two walks, and 33 strikeouts over his first 27 games (89 plate appearances) with Boston.

Despite seeing the ball better lately (.313 batting average going back to August 13), Duran had seen his playing time take a hit in the wake of Kyle Schwarber making his Red Sox debut earlier this month.

With Schwarber making his first start in left field in Monday’s 8-4 win over the Rangers after solely being used as a designated hitter in his first six starts with the team, Duran’s role was essentially reduced as he slid down the outfield depth chart.

By optioning him down to Worcester, the Red Sox ensure that Duran will get more regular playing time and at-bats as opposed to the limited opportunities he was and would be getting at the big-league level.

Duran, who turns 25 in early September, is still regarded by Baseball America as the No. 2 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking tops among outfielders in the organization.

Prior to getting called up in July, the former 2018 seventh-round draft pick was hitting a solid .270/.365/.561 to go along with eight doubles, one triple, 15 home runs, 32 RBI, 37 runs scored, 12 stolen bases, 24 walks, and 52 strikeouts across 46 games (219 plate appearances) with the WooSox.

Because Duran is a member of the Red Sox’ 40-man roster, it seems likely that the speedster would be a candidate to re-join the team once rosters expand from 26 to 28 players on September 1.

Of course, the soonest he could be called up again would be next Friday, September 3 (10 days from Tuesday), so there is that to consider as well.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox bullpen combines to walk 6 batters in 5-3 loss to Yankees in Game 1 of doubleheader

The Red Sox certainly had their chances, but lost their hold on a late lead over the Yankees and ultimately fell to their division rivals by a final score of 5-3 in the seven-inning day cap of Tuesday’s doubleheader in the Bronx.

Right from the jump, the Sox lineup had an opportunity to get on the board while matched up against Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery.

With one out in the top of the first inning, Hunter Renfroe ripped a line-drive single to left field. Following a Xander Bogaerts strikeout, Renfroe attempted to go from first to third on another single off the bat of Rafael Devers, but was instead gunned down at third base by Luke Voit to retire the side.

Tanner Houck, meanwhile, made his seventh start (and ninth overall appearance) for Boston after being appointed as the club’s 27th man earlier in the day.

Pitching just four innings, Houck surrendered two runs — both of which were earned — on five hits, no walks, and one hit batsman to go along with two strikeouts on the afternoon.

Both New York runs the right-hander gave up came in his second inning of work when he filled the bases by grazing Luke Voit and issuing a pair of singles to Rougned Odor and Tyler Wade.

Though he was just one out away from escaping the jam, Houck could not get out of it before yielding a two-run single to the Yankees’ No. 9 hitter in Andrew Velazquez.

That sequence allowed New York to jump out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Boston bats countered with two runs of their own a half inning later.

There, in the top of the third, Bobby Dalbec and Enrique Hernandez each reached base with one out and advanced an additional 90 feet on a groundout from Renfroe.

Bogaerts then came through by lacing a game-tying, two-run single to left field that brought in both Dalbec and Hernandez to knot things up at two runs apiece, but was thrown out at first base after rounding the bag to prematurely end the inning.

From there, Houck wrapped up his outing by retiring six of the final eight batters he faced, though he was pulled having thrown all of 58 pitches (39 strikes).

To kick things off in the fifth, Christian Vazquez snapped the 2-2 stalemate by crushing his fifth home run of the season off Montgomery, thus giving his side their first lead of the day at 3-2.

Vazquez’s first homer since June 27, which traveled 409 feet to left field and left his bat at 106.2 mph, very well could have paved the way for the Red Sox to run away with a win, but that was simply not the case.

Why? Because in relief of Houck, the Boston bullpen struggled mightily, particularly in the fifth inning.

Garrett Whitlock got the first out of the fifth rather quickly, then walked back-to-back hitters, which led to him getting the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora in favor of Josh Taylor.

Taylor, just back from a short stay on the COVID-19 related injured list, had control issues of his own, as the left-hander walked Joey Gallo to fill the bases before issuing a softly-hit two-run single to Voit.

Voit’s clutch hit was just out of the reach of Hernandez in shallow center field, but it was still good enough to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. The pinch-hitting Giancarlo Stanton followed by drilling another RBI single off Taylor, providing what would prove to be an important insurance run in doing so.

Hansel Robles took over for Taylor with one out in the fifth, got out of the inning, and also got the first two outs of the sixth before fellow trade deadline acquisition Austin Davis came on to finish it without allowing a single run to cross the plate.

All in all, though, four different Red Sox relievers combined to walk six batters in just two total innings of work out of the Boston bullpen.

Despite those struggles, the Sox still had a chance to pull off what would have been an epic comeback in their half of the seventh.

With righty Jonathan Loaisiga on the hill looking to protect a two-run lead for New York, Kyle Schwarber, Vazquez, Alex Verdugo all reached base to fill the bases with no outs.

In that crucial spot, Bobby Dalbec was slated to hit next for Boston, but was instead pinch-hit for by the recently-acquired Travis Shaw.

Shaw, making his first appearance for the Red Sox in nearly five years, worked a six-pitch at-bat against Loaisiga, but ultimately flew out to left field without bringing in Schwarber from third.

Hernandez followed by getting ahead in the count against Loaisiga at 0-3, but the Yankees reliever battled back to punch out the right-handed hitter on six pitches.

Down to their final out, Renfroe went down on four pitches, meaning the Red Sox stranded three runners on base to seal a frustrating 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Yankees.

With the loss, the Sox see their three-game winning streak come to an end as they fall to 69-52 on the season.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Gil

Boston will send right-hander Nathan Eovaldi to the hill in the night cap of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. New York will counter with fellow righty Luis Gil.

First pitch Tuesday night is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Red Sox activate Josh Taylor from COVID-19 related injured list, designate Matt Andriese for assignment

Before opening up a three-game series against the Yankees with a day-night doubleheader at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, the Red Sox made a series of roster moves.

First off, left-handed reliever Josh Taylor was reinstated from the COVID-19 related injured list. In order to make room for Taylor on Boston’s 40-man roster, right-hander Matt Andriese was designated for assignment.

Secondly, right-hander Tanner Houck was appointed as the 27th man for Tuesday’s twin bill in the Bronx, the club announced earlier Tuesday morning.

Taylor winds up missing just one day of action after initially being placed on the COVID-related injured list before Sunday’s series finale against the Orioles.

Though it does not appear as though the 28-year-old ever tested positive for the virus this time around since he tested negative on multiple occasions, he was forced to take a car service to get from Boston to New York as opposed to flying with the team.

Taylor, who did test positive for the virus last summer, opened the truncated 2020 campaign on the COVID-19 related injured list.

Through 48 appearances out of the Boston bullpen this year, the southpaw has proven to be one of the Sox’ most effective relievers, posting a 3.23 ERA and 2.92 FIP with 51 strikeouts and 20 walks over 39 total innings of work.

Per Red Sox manager Alex Cora, Taylor should be available for both games of Tuesday’s twin bill.

Because Boston placed Taylor on the COVID-related injured list on Sunday, they were able to temporarily create a spot on their 40-man roster, which in turn allowed them to claim infielder Travis Shaw off waivers from the Brewers without making a corresponding move.

With Taylor’s return, however, the Sox needed to make room on their 40-man roster for the lefty, and they did so by designating fellow reliever in Andriese for assignment.

Originally signed to a one-year, $2.1 million deal that included a team option for 2022 back in December, Andriese got his Red Sox career off to a solid start, as he put up a 1.42 ERA and .577 OPS against over nine relief appearances spanning 12 2/3 innings pitched in the month of April.

Once the calendar flipped to May, however, things seemed to take a turn for the worse for the veteran right-hander, as he struggled to the tune of an 8.39 ERA and 1.090 OPS against across 17 outings (24 2/3 innings) before landing on the 10-day injured list with right hamstring tendinitis on July 10.

Andriese, who turns 32 later this month, was able to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on August 7 and was even scheduled to work two innings for the WooSox on Tuesday, but that is no longer the case.

Instead, the Red Sox will have seven days to either trade, release, or sneak Andriese through waivers, though he could refuse an assignment to Worcester and elect to become a free agent instead.

Finally, we arrive at Houck, who was recalled from Worcester to serve as the 27th man for Tuesday’s doubleheader.

The 25-year-old will get the start for Boston in Game 1 on Tuesday, as he will be matched up against Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Matt Andriese: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)