Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck took the mound in a key spot Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles given the previous starts of Corey Kluber and Chris Sale each taxed Boston's bullpen entering the series finale.
Houck, though, answered the call with a respectable five-inning performance and it helped Boston in a 9-5 series-clinching victory at Fenway Park.
"Just honestly filling up the zone," Houck told reporters when asked what led him to success, especially considering his disappointing spring training. "I felt really good with all my pitches. Slider was really good today, two-seem, I threw a lot of cutters."
Houck's two mistakes of the game led to a pair of Baltimore home runs in the fifth inning. Orioles second baseman Adam Frazier lifted a 89 mph cutter 396 feet to right field and Cedrick Mullins followed it up two batters later with a 380-foot shot on an 83 mph slider.
Houck exited after five innings, the pregame expectation manager Alex Cora was hoping for. He finished having allowed three runs on five hits with five strikeouts after throwing 45 of his 70 pitches for strikes.
Cora noted how Houck's first start of the season was good, especially because of how he pitched in Fort Meyers. In six Grapefruit League starts, Houck racked up a 9.74 ERA after he allowed 22 earned runs on nine home runs and 12 walks in 20 1/3 innings.
Houck, however, explained how he didn't lose any confidence in himself because of that poor stretch.
"It comes from just putting in the effort every single day and just doing the monotonous stuff over and over, talking with (Dave Bush), talking with (Kevin Walker), just continuing to have good conversations, productive conversations each and every day," Houck said. "And just really doing what you can each and every day and just knowing that it will get better. It doesn't seem like it sometimes but there's light at the end of the tunnel."
The Red Sox return to Fenway Park and continue their season-opening homestand Monday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The opener of the three-game series will feature first pitch at 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch it live on NESN following an hour of pregame coverage.
