Tanner Houck pitches another gem in Red Sox’ 8-2 win over Braves

The only drama — if you want to call it that — remaining in this Red Sox season is where they’ll fall in next year’s draft, but they don’t seem particularly interested in where they select.

Instead, they’re more excited about the youth that’s already on their roster. That was on display Saturday, as some of the Red Sox’ future helped carry them to an 8-2 victory over the Braves in Atlanta.

The takeaways as the Red Sox improved to 23-36 with one game to go:

Tanner Houck dominant again

There won’t be many things to write home about the Red Sox’ 2020 season, but the emergence of Tanner Houck will be atop the list of things they’ll be most excited about going into this offseason. The rookie has been simply dominant in the first three starts of his career.

Houck proved he was no fluke last Sunday when he followed up an impressive debut by throwing six scoreless innings against the Yankees. And the righty may as well have clinched a spot in next season’s starting rotation, if he hasn’t already, with another brilliant outing in Saturday’s win, allowing one run over six innings and striking out a career-high 10 for his third win in as many starts. He induced 16 swings and misses of Braves hitters, including 10 with a devastating slider that’s been just about unhittable through three starts, especially to right-handed batters.

Houck, who pitched 15 scoreless innings to begin his career, finally allowed his first career earned run in the fifth inning when he gave up a leadoff homer to Dansby Swanson. He also issued three walks in his third consecutive outing, so he has some work to do with his command. But his most impressive moment of the night came in the fourth, when he walked Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna to begin the frame before escaping the jam by retiring the next three batters.

In his first three starts, Houck totaled 17 innings, giving up just six hits and one run while striking out 21. In what some call a lost season, the Red Sox have certainly found something in Houck, and it’s hard not to be really excited about the 24-year-old going into 2021 and beyond.

Bobby Dalbec continues to belong

On the same night their most promising young pitcher continued to impress, one of the Red Sox’ brightest young hitters kept on crushing the ball. Bobby Dalbec’s two-run homer in the second — which was crushed 449 feet to left on a low fastball that he somehow got a hold of — gave the Sox an early lead and his eighth homer in 22 games.

Dalbec — who in his next at-bat crushed a pitch 380 feet to left, coming just short of another homer — joined Rafael Devers for the second-most homers through 22 games in Red Sox history, with George Scott’s 10 leading the list.

The 24-year-old’s blast off Tucker Davidson, who was making his first career start for the Braves, set the stage for an explosive eight-run inning for the Red Sox in which they chased the rookie out of the game.

With two outs in the inning, Christian Vazquez smashed his second career grand slam, a 424-foot rocket to left off Grant Dayton to cap the frame before he went for the celebratory ride in the ball cart in the dugout. It was more than enough for Houck to work with as the Red Sox cruised to the victory.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3388n4y