Red Sox Wrap: Tanner Houck Spins Gem In Win Over Guardians

BOSTON — The Red Sox didn’t need much offense Wednesday night thanks to Tanner Houck, who shut down the Cleveland Guardians in a 2-0 win at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox improved to 10-9 on the young season with the win while the Guardians dropped to 12-7.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Houck cruised through the Guardians lineup two times through, but the Red Sox have seen that type of show from the right-hander before.

The question for Houck as a starting pitcher comes when he faces the same order for the third time. Well, the 27-year-old had an answer against Cleveland.

Houck continued to make easy work of the Guardians as he went deeper into the game. He got all three batters he faced to fly out to center in the seventh and then punched out two batters and induced a harmless ground out in the eighth.

Houck became the first Red Sox pitcher to pitch into the seventh inning this season, and he went well beyond that. Houck’s efficiency allowed him to toss a complete-game shutout as he retired the final 13 batters he faced.

It’s easy to say this was the best performance of Houck’s career.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Houck went all nine innings and needed just 94 pitches to do so. He threw 69 of those pitches for strikes. He also only let up three hits while surrendering no walks and recording nine strikeouts.

— Connor Wong collected two of Boston’s five hits and belted a solo home run into the Green Monster seats in the fourth inning. It was Wong’s third round-tripper of the season.

— Ben Lively was very solid on the mound as well. The Guardians starting pitcher tossed five innings, allowing two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.

UP NEXT
The Red Sox close out their four-game series with the Guardians on Thursday afternoon. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.