Tanner Houck finally hit the mound again, making his first pitching appearance since that gnarly 2025 Tommy John surgery. Man, if you’re a fan watching the Red Sox make their mad dash towards October, you know all eyes were glued to this one. It felt like an uphill battle just to be seen as a decent rotation piece last season, playing through that injury, but back in 2024? The dude was a borderline ace, absolutely serviceable on a team that needed one, a real front of the rotation guy worthy of an All-Star nod. It’s awesome to see him out there again.
Portland Gets A W, Houck Gets A Start
His well wishes didn’t exactly translate to a clean sheet right away though. Houck allowed a run by walking two batters to start the fifth inning. Ouch, right? But hey, Dalton Rogers, who’s been pitching all year, also got tripped up by that Binghamton lineup, so it wasn’t just Houck finding his groove. Joe Vogatsky came in and gave the offense the breathing room they needed, and boy, did they take it. Portland went off, with seven different hitters crushing extra-base hits, including a key one in the 8th inning from Ronald Rosario. They scrapped out an 8-6 win against Binghamton, and that’s what matters in the end for the team trying to roll through their magic number.
Worcester’s Wild Night and Roster Rumblings
Down in Worcester, the Triple-A squad dropped a tight one, 5-4, to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. It was a bullpen game for the WooSox, and the arms actually kept it close, racking up 13 Iron Pigs strikeouts. Offensively, Braiden Ward and Mikey Romero were absolutely crushing it, each tallying three hits. Ward was a home run shy of the cycle, a crazy night that saw the only homer of the game come from Lehigh Valley’s Otto Ward, who was celebrating his birthday. Happy birthday, Otto, but man, a walk-off loss after a blown save? That stings.
But forget the final score for a sec, because the biggest eyebrow-raiser was Kristian Campbell and Romy Gonzalez getting pulled. Both were hitless, sure, but Hickey pinch-hitting for Gonzalez after just one at-bat? That’s what makes you lean in. Gonzalez has been tearing the cover off the ball in Triple-A, and you can practically hear the phones ringing. Is Connor Wong’s time coming to a close with Willson Contreras about to return? Does Mickey Gasper slide to catcher with a defensively capable Gonzalez getting the call-up? Or is there real smoke to those rumors of a struggling Andruw Monasterio packing his locker, even if that report was days ago? This is that time of year where you read into every footnote, every substitution, and speculate like crazy on the implications for a team trying to make that October run.
It’s September 9th, folks. With the Red Sox making their mad dash towards October, every single swing, every rehab pitch, and every rumored roster move in Triple-A and Double-A means something. Keep those eyes peeled on these minor league box scores, because the next big piece for that October run could be just a phone call away, or perhaps, already back on the mound.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Over the Monster.
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