BOSTON—All-Star Tanner Houck pitched two-hit ball over six innings, and Connor Wong, Wilyer Abreu, and Masataka Yoshida hit home runs to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 7–0 on Thursday night.
The Red Sox have won eight of their past 10 games to improve to 51–41. They have won five of six games against Oakland.
Houck (8–6) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and struck out six in his first victory since June 13. He threw 64 of 103 pitches for strikes and lowered his earned-run average from 2.68 to 2.54.
“I felt I learned a lot about myself in the first half and what my capabilities are. It’s about sticking to the routine and trusting what I’m doing,” Houck said. “I’m super stoked with the consistency I’ve had, but it’s not done, though.”
With two on and two down in the sixth, Boston Manager Alex Cora visited the mound. He had Brennan Bernardino warming up in the bullpen, but Cora elected to stay with Houck after he had thrown a wild pitch to put the runners on second and third. Houck got Lawrence Butler on a grounder to shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela for the final out.
“He’s our guy, and you’ve got to trust him,“ Cora said. ”Usually, I make my decision in the dugout, but I wasn’t ready to take him out of the game. He deserves that. He’s done an amazing job throughout the first half of the season.”
Said Houck: “Super thankful for the opportunity to stay out there and get that last guy. It was a little dicey, but I battled back and made the pitches when I had to.”
Yoshida went 3 for 4 and drove in four runs. Abreu also was 3 for 4, and Wong and David Hamilton each had two hits.
Yoshida doubled in two runs with two outs in the first, and Abreu followed with a run-scoring double to make it 3–0.
Wong cleared the Green Monster in left field for a solo homer in the fourth, and Abreu went to straight-away center to make it 5–0 in the fourth. Yoshida capped the scoring with a two-run home run in the sixth.
Chase Anderson followed Houck with three innings of one-hit ball, with four strikeouts, en route to his third save.
Oakland starter Luis Medina (2–4) rebounded from a shaky first inning to go five. The right-hander struck out seven and allowed two of Boston’s three home runs.
“Any time you’re facing an All-Star on the other side, it’s hard to grind and come back when you’re down early,” Oakland Manager Mark Kotsay said.
The A’s fell to 13–35 on the road.
Trainer’s Room
Athletics: First baseman Tyler Soderstrom was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a bone bruise in his left wrist. The move is retroactive to Wednesday. Outfielder-first baseman Seth Brown was selected from Triple-A Las Vegas to take the roster spot.Up Next
Athletics: Left-hander Hogan Harris (1–3, 3.22) is set to start for Oakland in Friday’s opener of a three-game series at Philadelphia. Left-hander Ranger Suárez (10–3, 2.58) is the Philles’ scheduled starter.Red Sox: Boston has yet to announce a starter for its series opener Friday against visiting Kansas City. Left-hander Cole Ragans (5–6, 3.28) is scheduled to start for the Royals.
