Red Sox Notes: Tanner Houck’s Quality Start Spoiled By Blue Jays

The Boston Red Sox were poised to win their series Thursday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.

However, for the second straight game, Toronto pulled off the come-from-behind win, defeating Boston 4-2 in the series finale at Rogers Centre.

After a stellar seven innings of work from starter Tanner Houck, Boston entered the bottom of the eighth inning clinging to a 2-1 lead. Justin Slaten took the ball for the Red Sox, having allowed no hits and walks in eight of his 12 outings.

However, Slaten gave up three hits, including a three-run homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., turning the Red Sox’s lead into a 4-2 deficit.

“Super frustrating,” Slaten told reporters after the loss, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I mean, it’s back-to-back nights where I feel like my stuff has been as good as it’s been in my life, and I just didn’t execute with two strikes is what it comes down to.

“… So, super frustrating. Especially in games like that, where it’s super close, every pitch matters, and you do your job getting ahead, and just let it get away from you late.”

“He didn’t finish at-bats,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters about Slaten’s performance, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “… And he usually puts them away, he didn’t tonight.”

Houck was headed for his first win of the season and instead ended up with a no-decision after allowing one run on four hits, while striking out six and walking none in his seventh start this season.

“Part of baseball,” Houck said on NESN’s postgame. “They’re good hitters, did their job tonight, but all in all, come back tomorrow and play. That’s the great thing about this game: you get another opportunity. Great thing about this game is you get right back to work.”

“I’m happy with the outing by Tanner,” Cora said. “He did an outstanding job. But, we didn’t finish for him.”

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Here are more notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game:

— Jarren Duran continued to be a nightmare for opposing teams on the base path. The speedy outfielder stole his 11th base of the season when he stole second in the first inning after reaching first on an infield single.

— Alex Bregman extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a two-run double in the fifth inning to open the scoring for Boston. He has 26 RBI in 33 games for the Red Sox this season.

— The Red Sox fell to 13-1 when leading after seven innings, 12-4 when they score first, 3-11 when scoring less than four runs in a game and 3-2 in rubber games.

— After splitting their six-game road trip, the Red Sox return to Boston for a six-game homestand beginning with a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can catch all the action on NESN beginning at 5:30.