Tanner Houck wasn’t exactly at the top of his game, and the lineup was racking up runners-left-on-base, but the Red Sox were able to grind out a 4-3 victory, extending their winning streak to four and taking their third consecutive series.
How? Because the hometown hitter came up big again, the rookie continues to rake, and the bullpen gave no quarter.
After homering twice in Monday night’s series opener, Canadian native Tyler O’Neill came up clutch again in a much-quieter, closer game on Tuesday, leading off the eighth with a game-tying blast to center.
O’Neill has proven clutch in personal, big spots: in March, he made MLB history as the first player to homer in five consecutive Opening Days. His return to St. Lous was similarly explosive. The Red Sox are trying to capitalize however they can; according to Alex Cora, there’s a running joke that Jason Varitek checks the calendar and tells the slugger when there’s a Canadian national holidays.
O’Neill’s round-tripper reinvigorated the Red Sox lineup, which had left eight men on base before the eighth. Dom Smith singled, and was replaced with pinch-runner David Hamilton, who immediately stole his team-leading 19th base.
“We were waiting for the right moment to use Hammy,” Alex Cora told reporters of the infielder, who exited the previous night’s contest with side soreness. “Hammy was a go from the get-go, did a good job, and then, Rafaela with the swing. It was fun.”
“It’s huge to have him come in that inning and do the job that AC expects he can do,” Ceddanne Rafaela told NESN’s Jahmai Webster. “When we put it together, we gonna come up with a win.”
It was Rafaela’s third three-hit performance in his last four games, and sixth multi-hit game in his last seven. The rookie’s third hit of the night brought Hamilton around to score the go-ahead run; he then promptly stole his 10th base of the season.
How clutch was Rafaela’s hit, exactly? According to Stathead, it was the first two-out, go-ahead RBI by a Red Sox hitter in the eighth inning or later on the road since June 12, 2022.
“He’s leading the team in RBI, he’s been able to control the at-bats, use the other field, he’s been doing a good job,” Cora lauded. “We knew that it was gonna be struggle early in the season, but right now he’s in a good spot. … He’s swinging at the right pitches, he’s not chasing as much.”
The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, but would trail for most of the contest and never lead by more than one run. Houck wasn’t quite as sharp as he’s been for most of this season; he opened his first frame with a leadoff double, and working himself into and out of jams several times throughout his start. After a lengthy seven-batter second inning culminated in an Ernie Clement two-run double and a 2-1 Blue Jays lead, the Red Sox righty retired nine consecutive batters before giving up a two-out double to Davis Schneider.
For only the third time in 15 starts this season, Houck was unable to get through six innings. A leadoff single and stolen base put Daulton Varsho in scoring position immediately, and Houck walked 2023 teammate Justin Turner to add to the traffic. After getting two outs, the Red Sox righty gave up an RBI single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, putting the Blue Jays back in front and bringing Cora out to make a pitching change.
“Just bad luck for Tanner,” Cora said. “The double was hit hard. Besides that, he was in control.”
It’s a mark of Houck’s dominance this year that a performance such as this one looked underwhelming. Yet it was his 12th consecutive start of at least 5.2 innings and no more than three earned runs allowed, a feat last achieved by Pedro Martinez’s 12 such games in 2001. Houck owns a 2.14 ERA on the season, and entered the contest leading Major League pitchers in fWAR (3.2) and tied for the lead in quality starts. According to the club’s media relations, he’s the only pitcher in the Live Ball Era to record an ERA no higher than 2.25, no more than two home runs, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.00 or better in all of his first 15 starts of the season.
After scoring at least seven runs in their previous three games – and five of their last six – the Boston bats were quiet for most of Tuesday night’s contest in Toronto. They put men on base against Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt, including a leadoff knock thrice in the first five innings, but stranded four runners. In the fourth and sixth, Dom Smith grounded out to first, stranding two.
Masataka Yoshida had only collected two hits since coming off the injured list the week prior, but he made the third knock count. His two-out single brought Rafael Devers around to score the tying run in the sixth.
“We were grinding at-bats. Bassitt, he’s one of the best, in our division and in the big leagues,” Cora said of Toronto’s starter, who has one of the widest-ranging pitch mixes in the game. “His ability to throw the cutter up, the sinker in to lefties, mixing up the breaking ball. He controls the pitch clock, too. He does a good job with it, and it was a grind for a while there, but we got him out (after) six innings, and then we did work with their bullpen.”
But as the Red Sox struggled to bring runners home, the bullpen kept the game in check. Zack Kelly relieved Houck, and didn’t allow a Blue Jay to reach base over his 1.1 innings; over 8.2 innings this month, opponents are 0-for-26 with 13 strikeouts and only three walks against him. Brennan Bernardino gave up one hit, but nothing came of that, either. He and Justin Slaten picked up their fifth and sixth holds of the season, respectively, before Kenley Jansen took the mound for the ninth.
For the first time since May 26, the Red Sox closer had to protect a one-run lead, and he did so effortlessly, getting Kiner-Falefa and Clement to fly out to O’Neill in right, and striking out pinch-hitter Danny Jansen looking for game-over.
After only pitching in four save opportunities (4-for-4) between April 21-June 11, Jansen has successfully converted four saves in the last seven days. His 13th of the season moves him into a tie with former Sox closer Craig Kimbrel for fifth on MLB’s all-time saves list. The Boston bullpen quietly owns the American League’s fourth-best ERA, and the Red Sox are four games over .500.
“It’s been good, and we’re playing good baseball. It seems that everybody’s locked in and understanding their roles,” Cora said. “It’s been fun to watch. That was a very intense game, a really good game.”