Red Sox Notes: Alex Cora To Consider This After Rough Tanner Houck Outing

The look on Tanner Houck’s face in the Boston Red Sox dugout following his outing Monday night against the Detroit Tigers said it all.

Houck looked despondent as he lived through another nightmare performance on the mound in an ugly 14-2 loss at Comerica Park.

The veteran righthander got shellacked once again this season. Houck gave up nine runs in the third inning alone and 11 total as he lasted just 2 1/3 innings while also allowing three walks and striking out none.

“Probably the most lost I’ve ever been,” Houck told reporters, per NESN. “And just not getting the job done, which weighs on me heavily.”

Houck hasn’t been the same pitcher since making his first All-Star appearance last season. This is the second time this season he’s surrendered double-digit runs in less than three innings of work, doing so a month ago against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Houck’s ERA is now up to 8.04 through nine starts, raising questions about whether Houck stays in the rotation going forward.

“We’ll talk about it, of course,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters, per NESN. “He had that good one in Toronto. The last one was OK, right? And today, there were a lot of pitches in the middle of the zone. On the split, it 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. We’ll have to take a look at it and see what we do.”

The Tigers got to Houck right away even before the abysmal nine-run third. Just four pitches into the game, Houck had let up a single to Kerry Carpenter and a two-run home run to Glebyer Torres.

The rough outing has Houck searching for answers that he can’t seem to consistently find.

“If I knew, I would do it,” Houck said.

But Houck will continue trying to find solutions to his pitching problems. It all depends now if that’s still as a starter or possibly in a different role.

“I mean, it never stops,” Houck said. “It’s why you play the full 162, and you know, trying to do my part whenever I’m out there. Just didn’t do it.”

Here are more notes from Monday’s Red Sox-Tigers game:

— Sean Newcomb saved the bullpen by throwing the final 5 2/3 innings of relief to make sure Cora didn’t have to use any other relievers after Houck’s short outing. Newcomb allowed three runs (two earned) on nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts. The 31-year-old lefty threw 68 of his 98 for strikes in his unsung performance out of the bullpen.

“It’s a tough role. It’s really tough,” Cora said. “Just to go out there and give us enough. He did at home and we won the series. So hopefully, him going out there and doing what he did, puts us in a good spot to win the series.”

— Wilyer Abreu had an up and down night. He was charged with an error in the third inning when he misplayed a single from Riley Greene as he overcharged a bounding ball. The ball rolled all the way to the fence, allowing Greene to scamper around for a Little League home run. Abreu did hit his 11th homer of the season in the sixth inning, which is just four shy of his total from last season.

“That’s a situation that I’m trying to be aggressive,” Abreu told reporters through translator Daveson Perez about his error, per NESN. “Just unfortunately, wasn’t able to come up with the ball.”

— The Red Sox and Tigers will meet back at Comerica Park on Tuesday with Brayan Bello taking the mound for Boston. Keider Montero will get the start for Detroit. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET and you can catch complete coverage of the game on NESN.