Red Sox recap: Tanner Houck with another disastrous outing; Tigers tear apart Boston 14-2

The Red Sox built some momentum over the weekend, taking two of three from the Royals before starting a three-game series with the AL Central-leading Tigers.

One of baseball’s best teams decimated the Red Sox, 14-2, in the series opener, annihilating Red Sox starter Tanner Houck in the process.

Houck had another disastrous outing, allowing 11 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings, just four weeks after the Rays embarrassed him, scoring 12 runs (11 earned) on 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings in Tampa. History repeated itself in the Motor City, starting his night off by allowing a leadoff single and a two-run blast to Gleyber Torres in the first.

“The split to Carpenter stayed up in the zone and he put a good swing on it,” said Alex Cora said. “The sinker to Gleyber was 91, 92 (mph), put a great swing on it. Then, it just snowballed on us.”

Things got out of hand quickly in the third after Houck allowed a leadoff double to Kerry Carpenter and two walks to load the bases with no outs, and then a run scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Riley Greene singled to right, and as Wilyer Abreu was running in to make a play, he overran the ball, which enabled Greene to keep running the bases and scoring, causing a Little League homer, and made it 6-0.

Houck entered the record books on Monday night, owning two of the three starts in Red Sox history with 10 or more runs allowed in fewer than three innings. The only other pitcher in Sox’ history to have accomplished this forgettable feat was Doug Bird, who allowed 11 earned runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Chicago White Sox on May 24, 1983.

You’d think Cora would have intervened and stopped the bleeding and removed Houck down six runs. Instead, he left the righty out on the mound, and the Tigers continued to maul the 2024 All-Star.

“A lot of pitches in the middle of the zone and they put the ball in play and hit the ball hard,” Cora said. “No fastball command. He struggled today. He did.

“He had that good one in Toronto. The last one was OK. Today, there were a lot of pitches in the middle of the zone. The split was up. They put some good swings on it. The slider, he wasn’t able to get it across home plate and down in the zone to lefties. Just one of those.”

Zach McKinstry ignited another Tigers’ rally with a single, catcher Dillon Dingler was hit by a pitch, and Trey Sweeney tore the game wide open with a three-run homer. The Sox were unable to stop the bleeding; center fielder Javier Baez singled, Carpenter walked, and Torres hammered the final nail in Houck’s coffin with an RBI single to make it 10-0.

It’s starting to get to the point that the Sox’ front office and coaching staff need to figure out what to do with Houck.

“We’ll talk about it, of course...,” said Cora on whether Houck should lose his spot in the rotation. “I’ve got to take a look at the video and we’ve got to see what we’re gonna do. Right now, it’s too fresh. It’s too quick. We have to take a look at it and see if it’s mechanical, usage, or where we’re at.”

Once Walker Buehler returns from the injured list, it might be worth shutting down Houck to get him right mentally while understanding why he hasn’t been the same hurler as last season.

Since pitching in the All-Star game, Houck has posted a 5.81 ERA over his last 105 1/3 innings. Prior to the Midsummer Classic in Arlington, he owned a 2.54 ERA in 117 innings.

“I work four days really hard to go out there,” Houck said. “Just not, obviously, doing the right things right now.

“I have the confidence to turn it around but, just have to keep working.”

UNSUNG HERO IN LOSS

There wasn’t anything positive to pull from the beatdown in Detroit apart from Sean Newcomb’s performance out of the bullpen. The southpaw was brought in to do mop-up work and gave the Sox 5 2/3 innings, tossing 98 pitches and saving the bullpen in the series opener.

Newcomb did allow three runs, two earned, off nine hits while walking no one and striking out four. His 98 pitches were the most thrown in a big league outing since April 7, 2019, when he had a 98-pitch start for the Braves.

DEVERS REMAINS HOT

Rafael Devers may not want to play first base, but he sure is dialed in at the plate right now. The reigning American League Player of the Week (.476/.577/.810, eight RBI, one stolen base) singled and scored twice. He’s reached safely in 11 of his last 12 plate appearances and owns a five-game winning streak.

Boston had an opportunity to gain some offensive steam in the game in the third inning, squandering a chance with the bases loaded and one out. Kristian Campbell lined out, and Abreu grounded out, putting an end to their potential rally.

The Sox got a solo homer from Abreu in the sixth, his 11th blast of the season, and his fifth in his last eight games. Abraham Toro added another solo homer in the ninth inning, his first as a member of the Red Sox.

Connor Wong remains a void in the lineup, struggling to generate any offensive momentum this season. He was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Wong's.146 batting average and.385 on-base percentage raise the question of how long the Sox will continue to use him as a starter before switching to Carlos Narváez.

Jackson Jobe, the starter for the Tigers, managed to control the Red Sox lineup throughout the night, allowing five walks in his 5 2/3 innings of work.

POOR DEFENSE

The offense failed to get going against Jobe, and the defense continued to look like the league’s worst on the diamond. The club committed two more errors in the game, giving the Sox an MLB-worst 37 errors on the season.

“It just snowballed on us,” Cora said. “We didn’t make plays, we didn’t cover first, there was a lot of stuff, not only stuff-wise, but we didn’t do much either around (Houck).”

ON TO TUESDAY

The Red Sox will look to bounce back on Tuesday when Brayan Bello (2-0, 2.01) is expected to take the mound for them. Detroit hasn’t announced a starter for the second game and could go with an opener. The first pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. and can be seen on NESN.