Tanner Houck, an All-Star pitcher, held Oakland to just two hits over six innings. Connor Wong, Wilyer Abreu, and Masataka Yoshida hit home runs to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Athletics 7-0 on Thursday night.
The Red Sox have been on a strong run, winning eight of their last 10 games to improve their record to 51-41. They have won five of their six matchups against Oakland this season.
Houck, who now holds an 8-6 record, kept Oakland hitless until the fifth inning and struck out six batters. This victory was his first since June 13. He threw 103 pitches, with 64 of them being strikes, and lowered his ERA from 2.68 to 2.54.
Reflecting on his performance, Houck said, “I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself in the first half of the season and what I’m capable of. Consistency has been key, but there’s more work to do.”
In a critical moment during the sixth inning with runners on base and two outs, Boston manager Alex Cora visited the mound. Despite having Brennan Bernardino warming up in the bullpen, Cora chose to stick with Houck after he threw a wild pitch. Houck responded by getting the final out with a ground ball.
“He’s our guy, and you have to trust him,” Cora commented. “I wasn’t ready to take him out. He’s been outstanding throughout the first half of the season.”
Houck added, “I’m grateful for the chance to finish that inning. It was tough, but I battled through and made the pitches I needed to.”
Masataka Yoshida had a standout game, going 3 for 4 at the plate with four RBIs. Wilyer Abreu also contributed, going 3 for 4, while Connor Wong and David Hamilton each had two hits.
Yoshida started the scoring with a double that brought in two runs in the first inning. Abreu followed with a double of his own, scoring another run to make it 3-0.
Wong hit a solo home run over the Green Monster in the fourth inning, and Abreu added to the lead with a home run to straight-away center field, making it 5-0 in favor of Boston. Yoshida sealed the win with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.
After Houck’s impressive start, Chase Anderson pitched three innings of one-hit ball with four strikeouts to secure his third save of the season.
