Boston red sox starter Tanner Houck pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts for Boston's first complete-game shutout at Fenway Park in nearly seven years as they beat the Cleveland Guardians 2-0 on Wednesday night.
Houck was dominant in his performance, per OptaSTATS:
“Tanner Houck of the Red Sox is the first MLB pitcher to toss a 9+ strikeout “Maddux” (9+ inning CG shutout on under 100 pitches) in 1:50 or less since Greg Maddux himself did so on August 20, 1995.”
Houck threw 69 of 94 pitches for strikes in his first career complete game, which took just 1 hour, 49 minutes.
Maddux, who starred for the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves, among other teams, was known for throwing low pitch-count complete games during his run of dominance in the 1990s. Maddux had 13 complete games with under 100 pitches thrown, which is the record since pitch counts began to be tracked in 1988.
Red Sox vs. Guardians quickest game in more than a decade
Houck's performance for the Red Sox was so dominant, that the game was completed in just 1:49. That was the fastest nine-inning game in the majors since Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game for Detroit against Cleveland took 1:44 on June 2, 2010.
In that game, Galarraga retired 26 Cleveland batters in a row, and appeared to get the final out while covering first base on a ground out, but umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly called the runner safe.
While game times have ticked down significantly since the advent of the pitch clock before the 2023 season, most games still take well over two hours, with the average last season being 2:40.
Red Sox dealing with extensive injuries
The Red Sox are dealing with injury issues early in the 2024 season.
Rafael Devers has had a shoulder issue that caused him to miss a handful of games. In his return earlier this week, he exited with knee soreness. Manager Alex Cora said that he felt better on Wednesday, however.
Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Whitlock also exited Tuesday’s game early — leaving after just four innings and 56 pitches due to left oblique tightness. Whitlock said after the game that Boston’s decision to take him out of the game was more of a precautionary move.
Outfielder Tyler O'Neill, off to a red-hot start, left Monday's game against the Guardians with an injury after colliding with Devers in the top of the seventh inning.
Finally, after getting hurt in a game last week, Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story was diagnosed with a fractured glenoid, signaling an end to his season. The 31-year-old recently underwent shoulder surgery in Los Angeles, according to an announcement by the team. Specifically, Story had gone through a successful arthroscopic repair of the posterior labrum, with an open reduction and internal fixation of the fracture of the glenoid rim.
Recovery for this type of surgery usually takes six months, so Boston will have to make do without their shortstop in the meantime.
The Red Sox are back at it on Thursday as they take on the Guardians from Fenway Park.
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