Houck's absence proves costly as Sox blow late lead to Jays

Jun. 29—This is what everyone was afraid might happen this week in Toronto.

Tanner Houck has emerged as a lockdown closer since being entrusted with the ninth inning, and throughout the month he's finished off the tight wins Boston could rarely nail down early in the season. He's been as big a reason as any for Boston's surge back into playoff contention, and when the Red Sox came from behind to take a 5-4 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday night, he would normally have been given the ball.

But Houck wasn't there, and the results were predictably disastrous.

Due to Canadian government restrictions barring unvaccinated players from entering the country, Houck is unavailable to pitch in this week's series in Toronto. Without him Red Sox manager Alex Cora is limited in his late-inning options, and Tuesday his call wound up being entrusting former minor league journeyman Tyler Danish with a second inning in by far the biggest spot of his career so far.

Danish was great in the eighth, but coming back out in the ninth he stood no chance against the top of Toronto's formidable lineup. He allowed a leadoff single to Alejandro Kirk and then walked George Springer before Hansel Robles was summoned to put out the fire. Robles fared no better, giving up the game-tying single to Bo Bichette on one pitch before Vlad Guerrero Jr. walked it off with the game-winning RBI knock to left field.

As NESN commentator Lenny DiNardo aptly put it on the post-game show: "It felt like April again."

Watching the ninth inning unfold was like watching a car accident in slow motion, you knew what was coming and couldn't do anything to stop it. Before Houck stabilized Boston's closer situation the Red Sox blew close games like this seemingly every other night, and coming into the week everyone knew there could be trouble if Boston found itself in a tight one again.

That didn't make Tuesday any less disappointing.

This should have been one of the biggest wins of the season for Boston. The Red Sox have been knocked around by the Blue Jays all year and for a while it looked like they might get trounced again. Toronto took the lead early, held the Red Sox offense at bay and seemed to be in total control.

But then Rob Refsnyder tied the game with a two-run home run to center in the top of the seventh, Christian Vazquez gave the Red Sox the lead in the eighth and suddenly Boston had a chance to finish off a huge comeback win to set up a potential series victory on Wednesday.

Instead they let it slip away, and now Boston finds itself 2-7 against Toronto, 7-16 against the AL East and 0-7 in series against divisional rivals.

And to add insult to injury, Tuesday's loss also dropped the Red Sox to second behind the Blue Jays in the AL Wild Card standings. That means if the season ended today, Boston would be on the road in their first-round Wild Card series.

In Toronto.

In the grand scheme of things Tuesday was one loss in a long 162-game season, but there's no question this one hurt and could signal trouble to come. Boston plays its second to last series of the regular season in Toronto and very well could face the Blue Jays on the road in the playoffs as well. What if something like this happens again then? And what about Chris Sale? He's unvaccinated too and presumably wouldn't be available for those games either.

It's an uncomfortable position, but asked if he's frustrated by the spot he's being put in, Cora took the diplomatic approach.

"We go with the 26 that are here," he told reporters postgame. "We tried to get 27 outs and we didn't do it."

With or without Houck the Red Sox do need better from their bullpen, but when the chips are down against a team like Toronto, you need your best 26 guys ready to go. Playing shorthanded caught up with the club this week, and the Red Sox better hope it doesn't happen again this fall.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.