Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck trotted into the Midsummer Classic as the team's unofficial ace, but the first-time All-Star has since struggled to return to dominant form and that cold stretch carried over into Saturday night's 7-4 defeat to the Texas Rangers.
Houck walked away after five-plus innings on the bump, charged with six earned runs off eight hits and two walks. He also struck out seven.
"The line's the line and you can't take it back," Houck told reporters, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "It's not what you want to see, but ultimately strides in the right direction. I think in total (I threw) 72% strikes, 68% first-pitch strikes, and ultimately that's the stuff that I think if I have 35 starts and I do that every time, I think that'd be quality each and every time. Just gotta refine even more and not make those two mistakes (against Jonah Heim and Leody Taveras)."
Houck got off to a more on-brand start by holding the Rangers scoreless through the first three innings of work. However, in the fourth inning with two outs Texas began figuring Houck out as Heim and Taveras -- the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters -- both belted back-to-back home runs, turning a 3-0 Red Sox lead into a 4-3 Rangers advantage.
"Hanging (splitter), back-door breaking ball in the zone and they put two good swings on it," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "Then after that, they put the ball in play, they put pressure on us and they ended up scoring even more. I think overall, he actually threw the ball extremely well. ... The pitches were really good. Obviously, he had some tough ones. The slider was really good. They worked extremely well together, Danny (Jansen) and Tanner. Two pitches, right? And it happened really quick against the bottom of the order."
Although the disastrous turn came down to just two at-bats, the subpar performance logged by Houck follows a recent trend for the 28-year-old.
Since the All-Star break, Houck has gone 0-2 in three starts while logging a 6.88 ERA in 17 innings pitched. Opposing hitters are batting .324 against the right-hander in the second half of 2024, which is a massive difference from the first half -- opposing hitters batted .215 against Houck before the All-Star Game. Granted, had Houck prevented the Rangers from their four-run rally in the fourth inning, perhaps Saturday night would've been the bounce-back game Boston has patiently awaited. But with the American League standings closing in and the Red Sox falling to 6 1/2 games behind Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, a momentum shift needs to take place -- and fast.
