All-Star Tanner Houck limits A's to 2 hits in 6 innings, Red Sox win 7-0

BOSTON (AP) All-Star pitcher Tanner Houck limited Oakland to two hits in six innings and Connor Wong, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida homered to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Athletics 7-0 on Thursday night.

The Red Sox have won eight of their last 10 to improve to 51-41. They have won five of the six against Oakland this season.

Houck (8-6) took a no-hitter into the fifth and struck out six in his first victory since June 13. He threw 64 of 103 pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA 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 the bullpen, but Cora elected to stay with Houck after he threw 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.

With two down in the first, Yoshida doubled in two runs and Abreu followed with a run-scoring double to make it 3-0. Wong cleared the Green Monster 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 innings. 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 are 13-35 on the road.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: 1B 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. OF/1B Seth Brown was selected from Triple-A Las Vegas to take the roster spot.

UP NEXT

Athletics: Travel to Philadelphia for a three-game series. LHP Hogan Harris (1-3, 3.22) was set to start for Oakland on Friday against LHP Ranger Suárez (10-3, 2.58).

Red Sox: Boston has yet to announce a starter for its series opener Friday at Fenway Park against Kansas City. LHP Cole Ragans (5-6, 3.28) was scheduled to start for the Royals.

--- AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb