With his mom charting pitches, Houck K's 8

BOSTON -- Tanner Houck had already burst onto the scene last season by turning in three dominant starts in September. It was quite a showing for the man currently rated by MLB Pipeline as the Red Sox's No. 7 prospect.

But there was something missing from that 3-0, 0.53 ERA start. That something were fans, and one in particular. Houck’s biggest fan is his mother Jennifer, and that’s why Saturday’s strong performance in a 4-2 loss to the Orioles was his true debut of sorts.

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Jennifer goes above and beyond the typically enthusiastic baseball mom. For years, she has charted every pitch her son has thrown as a professional in a notebook. She did the same thing when he was in high school and college.

And this time, she got to do it live from Fenway Park, though the Missouri native’s hands must have been a little chilly amid the unkind weather they tend to get in Boston this time of year.

Houck, the righty with electric stuff, at least kept his mom’s heart warm by the way he pitched.

“I don’t remember the last time she didn’t do the scorebook. She loves doing the book, that’s kind of her thing,” said Houck. “I love having her here, and even at home, she’ll be sitting in her bed watching the game. She’ll still do the scorebook, and I typically will go through and correct all her mistakes afterwards whenever she makes them. But to have her here in person was truly amazing. She’s been the biggest part of my life, so to have her here and spend this moment with her, I’m truly grateful.”

Thrust into an early-season start due to lefty ace Eduardo Rodriguez opening the season on the injured list with elbow inflammation, Houck worked quickly and notched eight strikeouts while walking just one and scattering six hits and two earned runs over five innings.

There’s a chance this was a one-start cameo for Houck, who could be optioned back to the alternate training site in Worcester, Mass., if Rodriguez is activated to start on Thursday in Baltimore.

“We'll know more tomorrow,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “[Rodriguez] felt good today, but we'll make decisions by tomorrow and talk to him about it and see where he's at. He feels good.”

But even if Houck’s trip back to the Minors is imminent, it's unlikely he won’t resurface in the near future. Unlike last year, when their starting depth was tapped out to say the least, the Red Sox now have the perfect sixth man who is likely to become much more as his career evolves.

The 24-year-old Houck will be just a phone call and a short car ride away whenever Boston is down a starter.

“He was good. Velocity was up,” said Cora. “Movement of the pitches. He did an outstanding job. Fastball was up in the zone. He controlled his emotions. He did an amazing job for us.”

Of the 85 pitches Houck threw, the Orioles swung and missed on 14. According to Statcast, he threw 32 sliders, 32 four-seamers, 18 sinkers and three splitters. The splitter is the evolving weapon he will need to neutralize lefties.

Going for his fourth straight victory to start his career, Houck’s quest was denied for two reasons.

The first is that the Boston bats struggled to get anything going for the second straight day. The second is that the defense was again spotty.

With the game locked in a scoreless tie in the fourth, Rafael Devers made a nice diving stop on Austin Hays, but then he made an error on the attempted force at second, allowing Rio Ruiz to get to third with two outs. After that, Kevin Plawecki’s passed ball put runners on second and third and they both scored on a single by Maikel Franco.

“I think defensively, the two games we haven't been sharp,” said Cora. “We made some bad decisions. Not making plays. For us, it's very important to play defense. The teams that play good defense, they win ballgames. The first two games, we haven't done that.”

The Sox slipped to 0-2. But at least they appear to have a potential cornerstone piece of their rotation -- one who has a strong support system.

“Truly amazing. Also my grandma was here, my sister, my fiancée, one of my former coaches, a few of my longtime childhood friends also made the flight when I told them that I had gotten the news. So to have everyone here today was something special,” said Houck. “I’ve known these people my entire life almost, so like I said before, it takes a team on and off the field to reach to this point and they’re definitely part of my team off the field.”