Houck throws 3-hitter in 2-0 win over Guardians for Boston's 1st CG shutout at Fenway since 2017

BOSTON (AP) — Tanner Houck pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts for Boston's first complete-game shutout at Fenway Park in nearly seven years, and the Red Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians 2-0 on Wednesday night.

Connor Wong homered in the fourth, one inning after Boston scored its first run on a balk by Cleveland starter Ben Lively.

Houck (3-1) threw 69 of 94 pitches for strikes in his first career complete game, which took just 1 hour, 49 minutes. It was the fastest nine-inning game in the majors since Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game for Detroit against Cleveland took 1:44 on June 2, 2010.

“I think this is one of those nights where you probably get one, maybe two of these a season, if you’re lucky,” said Houck, adding it was the best he’s ever felt on a major league mound. “It’s where you just go out there and you feel like you can do no wrong. You can throw no wrong pitch in any count. So, I truly feel blessed to go up there and just help this team win.”

Houck walked none and finished one short of his season high for strikeouts. The 27-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 1.35 after four starts in his fifth big league season.

“I don’t know if he could pitch much better than he did tonight,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “You've got to tip your cap. That was an outstanding performance by him. Every pitch, didn’t throw anything over the heart of the plate. I think the two pitches he did, we got hits on, but just tip your cap.”

It was Boston's first complete-game shutout since Michael Wacha tossed a three-hitter in a 1-0 win at the Los Angeles Angels on June 6, 2022. No pitcher had accomplished the feat at home for the Red Sox since Brian Johnson threw a five-hitter against Seattle on May 27, 2017.

“Just throwing strikes with good stuff,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “There was never a thought of going to the bullpen, to be honest with you. That was his game and whatever happens, happens. He was really good."

Wong connected off Lively (0-1) with two outs in the fourth.

“Lively was outstanding as well,” Vogt said. “He threw the ball great, was efficient. Did his job, got us five. Couldn’t be more thrilled with the way Ben threw the ball. It was an outstanding, outstanding job by him.”

Lively, making his Guardians debut after signing as a free agent in December and then starting the season on the injured list with a viral illness, was called for a balk in the third with runners on second and third. It was the right-hander's first balk since his rookie season of 2017 with Philadelphia.

“It just felt great getting out there and getting fired up again,” Lively said. “You see (Houck’s performance), you’re like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s go. Me and you are going toe to toe right now.’ It gets me fired up and ready to get back out there, too.”

After leaving Tuesday’s game with left knee discomfort, Rafael Devers was in the Boston lineup at designated hitter rather than third base. He went hitless in four at-bats with three strikeouts.

Steven Kwan was 0 for 4 for Cleveland, snapping his eight-game hitting streak.

“We win tomorrow and we save the series," Cora said. "We all know we’re where at. The bullpen needed it, we all needed it. It was great.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Guardians: RHP Eli Morgan was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. RHP Wes Parsons was called up from Triple-A Columbus.

Red Sox: RHP Garrett Whitlock went on the 15-day IL with a left oblique strain. He exited Tuesday night's start against Cleveland after four innings. LHP Joe Jacques was called up from Triple-A Worcester to take Whitlock’s spot on the roster.

UP NEXT

The teams wrap up their four-game series Thursday. RHP Carlos Carrasco (0-1, 3.55 ERA) is scheduled to start for Cleveland. In nine career appearances against the Red Sox, including seven starts, he is 1-4 with an 8.29 ERA.

Boston had not yet announced a starting pitcher.

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Boston Red Sox's Connor Wong is congratulated for his solo home run off Cleveland Guardians pitcher Ben Lively during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck is doused after he threw a three-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians in a baseball game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Boston. The Red Sox won 2-0. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Ben Lively delivers during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Fans reach for the ball on a solo home run by Boston Red Sox's Connor Wong against the Cleveland Guardians during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox's Connor Wong watches his solo home run off Cleveland Guardians pitcher Ben Lively during the fourth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck delivers during the ninth inning of the team's baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck (89) is embraced by catcher Connor Wong after Houck threw a three-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians in a baseball game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck delivers during the first inning of the team's baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Boston Red Sox pitcher Tanner Houck is doused after throwing a three-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians in a baseball game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Boston. The Red Sox won 2-0. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Democratic state Sen. Timothy Kennedy won a special election Tuesday for the New York congressional seat vacated by Democrat Brian Higgins.

Kennedy easily defeated Republican Gary Dickson for the upstate New York seat, helped by a 2-to-1 Democratic registration advantage in the district, which includes Buffalo, Niagara Falls and several suburbs.

Kennedy has been in the state Senate since 2011. Describing Washington as “chaotic and dysfunctional,” he said he would focus in Congress on reproductive rights, immigration and stronger gun laws like those passed in New York after a 2022 mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket.

“We need to elect pro-democracy, anti-MAGA candidates all around the country this November,” Kennedy said in a victory speech, “and it starts here in this room in Buffalo, New York, tonight.”

Registration wasn’t Kennedy’s only advantage. The Democrat raised $1.7 million as of April 10, compared with Dickson’s $35,430 total, according to campaign finance reports. Kennedy spent just over $1 million in the off-season election, compared with $21,000 for Dickson as the candidates worked to remind voters to go to the polls.

Kennedy will serve in Congress for the rest of the year. He is on the ballot, along with Republican attorney Anthony Marecki, for the general election. On Tuesday, former town supervisor Nate McMurray, who planned to challenge Kennedy in a Democratic primary in June, said in a social media post that elections officials had removed him from the ballot because of insufficient signatures.

Earlier this year, the GOP’s slim House majority was narrowed in a closely contested Long Island-area special election that followed New York Republican George Santos’ expulsion from Congress. That race, won by Democrat Tom Suozzi, was viewed as a test of the parties’ general election strategies on immigration and abortion.

Dickson, a retired FBI special agent, acknowledged the challenges of running in the upstate district when he announced his candidacy at the end of February, saying he was in the race to give voters a choice. He said he supports Trump as the Republican nominee for president, while describing his own politics as “more towards the center.”

After conceding the race, Dickson told supporters he had no regrets about running.

Voting took place with Trump on trial in New York City in the first criminal trial of a former American president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury.

FILE - Sen. Timothy Kennedy, D-Buffalo, left, speaks in the Senate Chamber of the state Capitol, Feb. 6, 2017, in Albany, N.Y. In a special election Tuesday, April 30, voters in upstate New York's 26th Congressional District will choose between Kennedy, a Democrat, and Gary Dickson, the first Republican elected as a town supervisor in the Buffalo suburb of West Seneca in 50 years. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

FILE - West Seneca Town Supervisor Gary Dickson, who is on the Republican ticket for the 26th Congressional District special election, speaks while on his campaign trail, April 25, 2024, in Buffalo, N.Y. In a special election, Tuesday, April 30, voters in upstate New York's 26th Congressional District will choose between state Sen. Timothy Kennedy, a Democrat, and Dickson, the first Republican elected as a town supervisor in the Buffalo suburb of West Seneca in 50 years. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes, File)