Fastball

Boston Red Sox' Hurler Tanner Houck Joins Greg Maddux in Awesome Baseball History

Tanner Houck of the Boston Red Sox threw a complete game shutout on Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians, tossing a "Maddux" in the process. It was a historic night on multiple fronts for the young Sox righty.

Brady Farkas

Apr 12, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck (89) pitches
Apr 12, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Tanner Houck (89) pitches / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
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The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday night, 2-0, at Fenway Park.

It was an important win for the Sox, who halted a two-game losing streak, and who got back over .500 at 10-9 on the year.

It was also an awesome win for righty Tanner Houck, who dominated on the mound in historic fashion. The starter tossed all nine innings, allowing no runs on three hits. He walked none and struck out nine. He's now 3-1 on the season with a 1.35 ERA.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

TANNER HOUCK
94-pitch shutout

BOS 1st Maddux (9-IP SHO, sub-100 pitches) since 8/31/14 Clay Buchholz (98 pitches)

fewest pitches in a BOS 9-IP SHO since 6/29/12 Aaron Cook on 81 pitches

And this, also from Langs:

this game took AN HOUR AND 49 MINUTES

it’s the Red Sox shortest 9-inning game since 4/22/99 at DET, also 1:49

DET won 1-0 thanks to a Brad Ausmus 2-out HR b8

And finally, from @OptaSTATS:

Tanner Houck of the 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.

It was an extremely rare performance as you can tell, and a great one for Houck personally, who continues to try to establish himself in the starting rotation. While he's always had good stuff, there's been questions about if he can go deep into games and get lineups out a third time through the order.

He answered that question, at least for a day. The Red Sox and Guardians play again on Thursday at 1:35 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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