ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — When Tanner Houck entered Game 2 of the ALDS to start the second inning, the Red Sox were down 5-2 and reeling from another Chris Sale blow up while the Tropicana Field was already feeling celebratory.
But the rookie right-hander rescued Sale. Houck allowed one run in five innings, giving the Red Sox offense time to hack away at the Tampa Bay lead and eventually pull away, 14-6.
Houck made a little history in the process. He got the last batter he faced against the Orioles on Sept. 28. He retired all 15 Nationals hitters in five perfect innings on Oct. 2 to keep Boston in position to clinch the Wild Card the next day. He worked one perfect inning in Tuesday’s Wild Card Game against the Yankees, giving him 19 straight retired batters coming into the ALDS. He set down the first 11 batters he faced Friday before Wander Franco stopped his streak at 30 — three more than a perfect game — with a single in the fifth.
Houck earned the victory with five innings of work. He allowed two hits, including a home run, and no walks. He struck out five.
Chris Sale needs more than four days between starts — If the Red Sox manage to continue in the postseason, they should consider manipulating Sale’s appearances to give him more than four days of rest.
At this point in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, Sale has struggled when taking a normal turn. This has to be something that was considered because throughout his series of rehab starts in the minors and his regular-season starts, they often game him an extra day or two.
He responded by pitching well in those games.
On four days rest, his ERA is 10.50. Opponents are hitting .400 against him. That includes Friday’s implosion where he gave five runs on four hits in one inning. Opponents are hitting .219 on five or more days rest and his ERA is 2.84.
Red Sox have a new single-game postseason home run record — Rafael Devers’ home run in the eighth inning gave Boston five in the game, a franchise record.
Boston’s fast start disappeared fast — The Red Sox scored twice in the first inning, but it felt like a missed opportunity for more. Hunter Renfroe, who had a postseason grand slam for the Rays last year couldn’t get one against them. With one out and the bases loaded he bounced into a 6-4-3 double play. The Rays answered with five in the bottom of the first.
Alex Cora has some decisions to make about his Game 4 starter — Forced to use Nick Pivetta and Houck, his fourth and fifth starters respectively, in long stints of relief in Games 1 and 2, Cora will have a decision to make on who to start in Game 4 on Monday at Fenway Park.
He could go with Eduardo Rodriguez or Pivetta on three days rest. Rodriguez threw 41 pitches and Pivetta threw 73 on Thursday. Martín Pérez, who was a starter earlier in the season, would be an option.
Cora will likely need several innings out of the bullpen no matter who takes the ball first.
Three postseason games, three different uniforms — The Red Sox wore their blue jerseys with gray pants, the same selection they went with to close out the Dodgers in Game 5 of the 2018 World Series, the last time Sale pitched in the postseason.
It was their third different jersey top in as many games, a trend that might continue. They could wear home whites on Sunday, and their yellow and blues on Monday in honor of the Boston Marathon.
Kevin Kiermaier remains elite defensively - There used to be a debate over who was the better defensive center fielder in the American League East - Jackie Bradley or Kevin Kiermaier. With Bradley in the National League, Kiermaier is the undisputed No. 1 and showed why in the third inning when Rafael Devers launched the ball deep to center field.
Whatever was paid for the ad “ST. PETE CLEARWATER America’s Best Beaches” was worth it Friday. Sprinting to his right from right-center, Kiermaier leaped and caught the ball while crashing into the part of the fence that that advertisement covers. The play will earn him and it quite a bit of time on highlight shows.
Alex Verdugo is thriving in the postseason — While Kiermaier had the defensive gem of the night, Verdugo wasn’t far behind. The Red Sox left fielder sprinted into the left field corner and reached deep into the stands to pull back a foul ball for the first out of the sixth inning.
That was a garnish on top of an already outstanding offensive night. He had his first career postseason home run in the game and now has five RBIs in the playoffs.
Kiké Hernandez has a career night — On Thursday, Hernandez became just the 49th player in history to play in 60 or more career postseason games. On Friday he had just his fourth multi-hit game in the playoffs and his first with more than one extra-base hit. He was 5-for-6 with three doubles, a single, and a solo home run. He drove in three runs and scored three times.
Red Sox fans help fill in Tropicana Field — Game 2 still wasn’t a sellout, but with an attendance of 37,616 it was much closer to full (42,735) than Game 1 (27,419).
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