NEW YORK – Tanner Houck was ruled out of his scheduled start for the Boston Red Sox on Friday night against the New York Yankees due to fatigue in his right shoulder.
Rookie right-hander Richard Fitts replaced Houck on the mound at Yankee Stadium, making his second career start in a game with playoff implications for both teams.
The move was announced less than an hour before first pitch. Boston manager Alex Cora said he told Fitts he would start toward the end of batting practice.
Fitts retired his first two batters, then drew three straight walks to load the bases before falling behind 3-0 to Jazz Chisholm Jr. After a strike, Chisholm flew to the warning track in center field.
After that, Fitts hit his stride. He pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits, with three walks and two strikeouts. He threw 56 of 90 pitches for strikes, and Cora rubbed Fitts’ head in the dugout when his outing was over.
However, Boston’s bullpen squandered a 4-0 lead in the seventh inning and the Yankees won 5-4 on Aaron Judge’s grand slam, which gave them the lead and ended the longest home run drought of his career at 16 games.
“It was a pretty surreal night. I was excited to be here,” said Fitts, who was traded from the Yankees in December. “It was a quick decision on when I would start, but I’m up for the challenge. I expected to pitch today and I started for the first time. It’s pretty cool to have this here at Yankee Stadium and I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help the team win.”
Houck, 28, who was named an All-Star for the first time this season, has an 8-10 record and a 3.24 ERA in 28 starts. He has thrown 169 2/3 innings – his previous career high was 106 last year.
“This guy is very important to us, not only now but in the future. If he goes the way he was, we’re going to have to face the consequences,” Cora said. “So we’ll just take care of him for the next few days and see where we stand in Tampa.”
Houck hasn’t pitched since Sept. 4 in New York against the Mets, when he lost the game after allowing four runs and five hits while throwing 84 pitches in five innings. His next outing was postponed for a few days because of soreness.
“Tanner is fine. When he got here he was on the table, (head coach Brandon Henry) was working on him and he felt like he was a little tight,” Cora said. “He did some tests and the shoulder is weaker than it was yesterday, so it doesn’t make sense for us (to let him throw).
“We don’t think it’s going to take any longer. It just felt like Brandon was very proactive today.”
Hours earlier, Cora had expected Houck to be fine.
“The feedback between innings will be important. He feels great. He played catch yesterday, felt loose, so he’ll be ready,” Cora said about two hours before the game.
But he also said he told Houck not to “try to play the superhero here.”
“If you can go, go. But if you feel anything, let us know,” Cora said.
Houck is 0-4 in nine starts since his last win on July 11 against Oakland.
“He was able to perform well into the games,” Cora said. “He had that bad stretch, the All-Star game and right after, but he’s been solid the last few weeks.”
Fitts was signed by the Yankees to New York last December in a trade for outfielder Alex Verdugo, a rare deal between the longtime rivals.
Fitts, 24, made his major league debut on Sunday at Fenway Park, allowing two runs (none earned) and six hits in 5 2/3 innings of a no-decision game against the Chicago White Sox. He struck out two players, walked one and 44 of his 66 pitches were strikes.
Boston (74-74) is 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota for the last AL wild card. New York has the best record in the American League at 86-62 and is three games ahead of second-place Baltimore in the AL East.
In other injury news, reliever Liam Hendriks said that despite a minor setback in his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery, he still hopes to pitch for the Red Sox this season – but that will largely depend on whether they stay in the championship race.
Hendriks will receive a cortisone injection in his right elbow on Monday in Boston and will then be out of action for about three days before returning to throwing.
