Monday was a very good day for the Tampa Bay Rays and a very bad day for Boston Red Sox righty Tanner Houck. The Rays, thanks to home runs from Yandy Díaz and Kameron Misner, tagged Houck for 12 runs in only 2 1/3 innings at George M. Steinbrenner Field (TB 16, BOS 1). The smallest of silver linings: Alex Bregman’s error meant only 11 of the 12 runs were earned.
Tampa put nine runs on the board in the third inning against Houck and Michael Fulmer. It was their biggest inning since a 10-run inning against the New York Yankees on July 29, 2021. Fulmer inherited runners on first and second and allowed both to score, closing the book on Houck’s outing.
Here is the third inning carnage:
Houck is the first pitcher to allow at least 12 runs in a game since Ben Lively, then with the Cincinnati Reds, surrendered 13 runs (all earned) in four innings against the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 1, 2023. The last American League pitcher to be charged with 12 runs was former Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka. He allowed 12 runs in 3 1/3 innings against Houck’s Red Sox on July 25, 2019.
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The last Red Sox pitcher to allow 12 runs in a game was Galen Cisco (13 runs) against the Washington Senators on July 27, 1962. Houck and Cisco are the only Boston hurlers to surrender 12 runs in a game in the last 88 years. It’s been done only 23 times in franchise history, with 12 of the 23 coming in 1906 or earlier, when pitchers finished what they started no matter the score.
Houck allowed eight runs total in his first three starts and 16 1/3 innings. The Red Sox entered play Monday with a 3.59 rotation ERA, good for tenth best in baseball. Houck’s outing raised that all the way to a 4.55 ERA. That’s 23rd in baseball. One disaster outing this early in the season can skew the entire team’s stats.
Monday’s blowout loss dropped the Red Sox to 8-10 on the season. They’ve lost six of their last eight. The Rays improved to 8-8 with the win. In 13 regular season games at GMS Field, there have been 112 runs scored and 36 home runs hit.
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