Red Sox Notes: ‘Great Road Trip’ On West Coast Sets Tone For Season

The Boston Red Sox entered the 2024 season knowing that starting pitching, above all else, would be needed to break out at some point.

So far, that crew’s wasted no time, leading the charge as Boston’s runaway strength and that didn’t change during the team’s series finale against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday evening. This time, it was Tanner Houck who picked up right where he left off.

Houck was supplied more than enough run support amid Boston’s 12-2 rubber-match victory over the Angels, but that didn’t stop the right-hander from maintaining focus. Regardless of what the scoreboard read, Houck didn’t treat the Los Angeles lineup any different, and it paid off. The Angels showed little to no life, due in large part to the tone set by Houck on the mound.

“It was a good day, overall. It was a great road trip,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “Coming into this season, we recognized how challenging it is to come to the West Coast right away. The organization did everything possible to put these guys in a situation where they were gonna be fresh and ready to go. Credit to them, they did an outstanding job.”

Houck pitched six scoreless innings, surrendering just four hits and two walks against the Angels while striking out seven batters. That marked the second straight outing from Houck in which he tossed six scoreless innings. He’s now 2-0 on the season with 17 strikeouts and a 0.75 WHIP.

Personally, for Houck, displaying an ability to go deeper into starts was priority No. 1, which hasn’t appeared to be an issue yet.

“It’s great, definitely a confidence booster, especially with all the pitches,” Houck said, per NESN. “Like I’ve talked about, the slider feels a lot better this year, spliter feels a lot better and then obviously adding the complementary pitch with the cutter and then obviously always throwing the sinker. Feels good to start out this way. Hope to continue to move forward and keep putting my best foot forward.”

The Red Sox return to Boston with an impressive 7-3 record start to the season.

Here are more notes from Sunday’s Red Sox-Angels game:

— Red Sox outfielder Tyler O’Neil extended his American League lead in home runs to five, going 1-for-3 at the plate.

— In six of Boston’s first 10 games to begin the 2024 campaign, Red Sox starters provided six-plus innings while holding opponents to two or fewer runs. Boston’s pitching staff entered the series finale with Los Angeles leading MLB with a 1.44 ERA.

“Pitching-wise, we’re different,” Cora explained, per NESN. “Everybody knows it. I’m not just saying we got this secret sauce now. The group did an outstanding job in the offseason, they bought into it in spring training and for the first road trip it was amazing.”

— David Hamilton got the call up from Triple-A on short notice as a corresponding move to Trevor Story’s shoulder injury. Hamilton got the start at shortstop on Sunday and belted his first career big league home run during his first at-bat, finishing the game 2-for-4 at the plate.

“It’s a great feeling,” Hamilton said, per NESN. “First one, you can’t put that into words. … That’s what I wanna do. I wanna help the team win and I want this team to go to the postseason and win a World Series and hopefully I can be a part of that.”

— Boston recorded a season-high 12 hits and 12 runs in the win.

— Following a solid season-opening trip on the West Coast, the Red Sox will return home to host the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game series starting on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 2:10 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus 90 minutes of pregame coverage, live on NESN.