Boston Red Sox vs San Diego Padres Picks and Predictions June 29th 2024

Red Sox Aim to Bounce Back vs. Padres Behind Tanner Houck

On Saturday, the Boston Red Sox will rely on pitcher Tanner Houck to break the San Diego Padres‘ four-game winning streak as they visit.

The Influence of Tanner Houck

Performance in the current season

Houck (7-5, 2.18 ERA) has rapidly moved up from competing for the fifth position in Boston’s rotation to being the top pitcher on the team. This season, he is at the top of the American League in ERA and has achieved 101 strikeouts and 18 walks in 103 1/3 innings. Houck credits a lot of his success to Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey, who advised him to revamp his split-finger fastball.

“He arrived and sort of offered me a few diverse grip suggestions prior to camp,” Houck mentioned during a recent NESN broadcast. I grabbed it and sort of took off. I am now very at ease with that pitch. I have been aware for a long time that I need to improve in this area, and I believe it has become my strongest asset this year after making significant progress.

Consistency

Houck has thrown for a minimum of 5 and two-thirds innings in all of his 16 starts. On Saturday, which is his 28th birthday, he will face the Padres for the first time in his career.

Pitcher from the other team

The name of Michael King

San Diego’s slated starter is right-hander Michael King with a record of 5-5 and a 3.75 ERA. Before his time with the New York Yankees, King has a record of 2 wins and 4 losses with a 5.20 ERA in 12 total games (including two starts) against the Red Sox. In five appearances (including one as a starter) in Boston, he has a record of 0 wins and 2 losses with a 4.50 ERA.

Recent Performances

San Diego Padres

The Padres opened the three-game series with a 9-2 victory on Friday. All of their scoring came in the fifth inning, featuring a two-run home run from Kyle Higashioka and a three-run home run from Jackson Merrill, who grew up rooting for the Red Sox.

“I don’t usually like to talk about something I do,” Merrill said. “I like talking about the wins and stuff. But that was probably the dopest moment of my baseball career. A nine-run inning. You can’t ask for anything better than that.”

Higashioka has three home runs in his past two games and eight home runs in June. The victory was the eighth in nine games for the Padres, moving them four games above .500 for the first time this season.

X-rays were negative on Padres starting pitcher Randy Vasquez, who took a line drive off his right forearm in the fifth inning. “A little bit of swelling right now, but hopefully I’ll be able to be out there for my next start,” Vasquez said.

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox haven’t experienced back-to-back losses since they dropped two games in a row against the White Sox on June 7-8. Despite the recent setbacks, Boston manager Alex Cora continues to have a positive outlook on the team’s overall performance and potential.

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Cora stated that we have a strong baseball team capable of achieving many positive outcomes. We need to improve in other areas, but we are also happy with how we conducted ourselves in the first part of the season and the progress some players made. We will continue putting in effort to improve them and continue playing well in baseball. I am confident that there will be significant games happening here in September.

Final thoughts

The Red Sox hope to rebound and stop the Padres’ streak by counting on Tanner Houck’s impressive pitching. In the meantime, the Padres will aim to keep up their winning streak with Michael King as the pitcher. This game is crucial for both teams as they look to secure their positions and gain momentum for the season ahead.