Boston Red Sox’ Alex Cora: Tanner Houck pitched ‘really good’ after first inning

CLEVELAND — The Red Sox scored three runs in the first inning to hand starting pitcher Tanner Houck an immediate 3-0 lead.

The righty then immediately gave it back, allowing four runs on five hits (two doubles, three singles) in a disastrous bottom of the first inning. Boston lost 5-4 to Cleveland in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday.

The second game will start at 6:10 p.m.

“He was good after the first inning,” manager Alex Cora said. “The first inning they put the ball in play. Seems like we made some adjustments or game-planning wise. They got three or four hits on the split, their lefties, and they scored four.”

The Guardians jumped on Houck’s splitter. Four of their hits in the first inning came against his split-finger fastball. The other came against his sweeper.

“Put some decent swings on some splits down and away that they pulled,” Houck said. “It’s kind of like that in-between pitch where I’ve gotta be a little bit more fine with it, get it under there in advantage counts. But take that away, take that information away and keep storing it.”

Houck has allowed nine first-inning runs in six starts.

He kept Cleveland scoreless the next four innings. He gave up four runs, eight hits and one walk while striking out six in five innings.

While Cora was pleased with how Houck pitched after the first inning, he said his righty needed to shut down Cleveland after Wilyer Abreu’s three-run homer in the first.

" It’s a shutdown inning. Big-time,“ Cora said. ”But that’s what they do. They put the ball in play. They put pressure on you. But credit to the guys that kept battling. But obviously a 3-0 lead, you feel good about yourself."

Houck, an All-Star last year, has a 7.58 ERA (29 ⅔ innings, 25 earned runs) in six starts. Cora was asked if he sees one particular theme in all Houck’s starts.

“Not really. He was good today after the first inning — he was really good,” Cora said. “He used his fastballs a little bit better. Adjusted after the first. Obviously not what we wanted — the four runs in the first. But there were a lot of positives today.”

Houck said he “switched the game-plan up a little bit” after the first inning.

“Got a little bit more fastball heavy in the later innings,” Houck said.

Houck ended up throwing 47% sinkers and got five swings-and-misses with it.

“And just attacked a different zone, different lane,” he said. “Stuck to the strengths of what I was feeling, what I was seeing. And a lot better from the second inning on. Now just gonna make that adjustment in the first inning.”