"Literally the proudest wife ever" - Tanner Houck's better half Abby cheers as husband silences Guardians with dominant maiden shutout
Tanner Houck had an excellent day on the mound on Wednesday. The Boston Red Sox starter threw a complete game shutout in the game against Cleveland Guardians, a rarity in modern baseball. What's even more impressive is that it required less than 100 pitches, which is called a Maddux. It was the first time Houck had thrown a shutout in his MLB career.
Thus, it required some praise from his wife, Abigail, who had pretty good seats behind home plate to watch her husband. Upon completion of his impressive feat, she uploaded a story to Instagram praising the ace.
"Un-freaking-real. Literally the proudest wife ever (and always)," Abigail Houck wrote on her Instagram story.
Abigail was thrilled to see her husband do something that not many pitchers have done and something that is especially uncommon in 2024. Throwing more than seven innings is rather uncommon, and Houck threw all nine and did it in less than 100 pitches.
Tanner Houck's impressive outing sparks big win
With the way modern teams are built, most starters go five innings and then hand the ball over to a bevy of relievers, but Tanner Houck kept this one going for the entire game. He shut out the Cleveland Guardians, adding nine strikeouts to just three hits and no walks.
The Red Sox only won by two runs, so any base runners would have meant the tying run would come to the plate. Nevertheless, he kept traffic off of the basepaths for most of the game and shut down the team that had one of the best records in baseball.
The Boston Red Sox are off to a very good start to the year, thanks in no small part to their pitching. Despite it being billed as a weakness and then having lost Lucas Giolito for the season, the Red Sox staff has been one of the best in baseball.
Aside from it being his first shutout, it was also Houck's first complete game. In five seasons and 45 starts, Houck had never gone the distance until yesterday.