BSJ Game Report: Angels 2, Red Sox 1 - Boston squanders a strong start from Houck for second loss in a row

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Angels, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Bats fall silent again in second straight loss: The Red Sox have followed up their four-game win streak with back-to-back losses that saw them go down quietly on the scoreboard. Los Angeles held Boston to four hits in the 2-1 result. Boston couldn’t sustain any sort of momentum at the plate. 

Strong night from Houck goes by the wayside: First, it was James Paxton two Fridays ago, then it was Chris Sale the next day. Today was Tanner Houck’s turn to have a strong outing on the mound mean nothing toward the final line on the scoreboard. Still, it was much improved from Houck, who struggled in last Monday’s 10-1 loss to Seattle. He struck out eight Angels, giving up three hits and one run in six innings of work.

TURNING POINT

Bottom of the eighth: It took two pitches for Mickey Moniak to leave the yard. Kutter Crawford started him off with an 89 mph cutter inside before leaving an 82 mph changeup at the same level but in the zone. Green light for Moniak, who launched it into the seats (401 feet, 110 mph) for the eventual game-winning run. 

THREE UP

Tanner Houck: Houck rose to the occasion in what was likely another audition for his spot in the rotation. Got himself out of a bases-loaded jam in the second by striking out Mike Trout, before striking out the side in the third and settling in the rest of the way. Mixed his pitches well, especially when he got into the second and third times through the order. 

Made it roughly two-and-a-half times through the Angels lineup. Gave up a hit, a run and two walks with a strikeout in 25 pitches the first time through. Allowed two hits but had for punchouts on 36 pitches the second time through before three strikeouts and no hits on 22 pitches the third time through. 

“Got into trouble early. Was kind of fighting my delivery the whole time, but focused in on it,” Houck told reporters. “I try not to worry about [the struggles the second and third times through the order]. I worry about going out there, executing pitches and worrying about the next start and the five or six days leading up to that. I know those things matter more than anything else online. Just staying in-house, continuing to work and continuing to push myself to get better each time.”

Perhaps most impressively, he struck out Trout and Shohei Ohtani swinging twice each. Added another strikeout looking on Hunter Renfroe. Houck had 17 whiffs and a 40 percent chase rate.

Houck’s splitter and sinker played off each other nicely, and his slider was effective. He leaned on it for 40 percent of his pitches.

“When you have so many weapons, sometimes you’ve got to be careful, right?” Alex Cora said. “You get to the buffet, and you like everything. But you can’t eat everything, right? You’ve got to be careful, and if not, you start gaining weight like me. What works that day, that’s what he’s going to use.”

Masataka Yoshida: The Red Sox had four hits, and Yoshida had two of them (2-for-4). Knocked in Wong, keeping Boston out of a second straight shutout.

Connor Wong: Kind of an ‘Up’ by default for Wong. Notched the only extra-base-hit on the night for Boston, eventually scoring their only run. 

THREE DOWN

Justin Turner: Turner was one of the headliners for the Sox’ hitting struggles, going 0-for-4. Struck out twice swinging and grounded into a double-play to end the top of the sixth after Yoshida scored Wong, killing any momentum Boston may have been building after quickly chasing Aaron Loup. His soft groundout to end the game was a representation of a meek night with the bats.

Kutter Crawford: Crawford was solid, overall, but completely missed his spot on the changeup to Moniak. Still, was solid with three strikeouts and 26 of 42 pitches for strikes in two innings of work, but in a quick one like tonight, those mistakes are back-breakers.

Lack of run support: The Sox couldn’t get anything going at the plate, save for the top of the sixth. Only had two at-bats with runners in scoring position (1-for-2) and stranded two runners. Triston Casas and Jarren Duran each struck out twice, along with Turner, making up two-thirds of Boston’s nine Ks.

NOTABLE

The game ran a total of two hours and five minutes. Selfishly, those of us on the east coast will certainly take that with the late start.

Houck and Crawford held a powerful middle heart of the Los Angeles order – Trout, Ohtani, Renfroe and Jared Walsh – hitless. The first two were 0-for-3, while the latter two were 0-for-4. 

“Obviously, [Houck] mixed his pitches well,” Cora said. “Kept them off balance, and did an amazing job against them.”

QUOTE OF NOTE

Cora said of Houck: “He gave us a chance to win, and that’s what we ask for. Stuff-wise, he’s one of the best that we have. … Right now, he’s one of our best starters. Forget the numbers. … That’s not him. So, I’m glad he pitched well against them. We’ll get ready for the next one.”

UP NEXT

Second game of the three-game set will be Tuesday against the Angels at 9:38 p.m. ET. RHP Brayan Bello (3-1, 4.45 ERA) will face RHP Griffin Canning (2-2, 6.14 ERA).