It was a performance that called back to Doug Bird’s infamous outing in 1983, the only other time in franchise history that a starter allowed double-digit runs in fewer than three innings, until now. Houck, shockingly, has done it twice this season already, making him the only pitcher in Red Sox history to endure this kind of collapse on the mound more than once, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today stated on X (formerly Twitter).

“The only starter in Red Sox history to allow 10 or more runs in fewer than 3 innings before this year was Doug Bird in 1983 (11 ER in 2.2 innings),” Nightengale wrote. “Tanner Houck has done it twice within a month.”

The Tigers, who came into the night as the hottest team in the American League, were relentless. They exploded for nine runs in the third inning, sparked by an inside-the-park home run by Riley Green due to a costly error by Wilmer Abreu. The inning quickly unraveled, punctuated by a three-run shot from Trey Sweeney. By the time the Tigers vs. Red Sox matchup hit the fifth inning, manager Alex Cora had emptied the bench.

While Abreu and Abraham Toro did provide solo shots late, it was far from enough to cover the damage. With a historically bad pitching outing like this, the spotlight now turns to Boston’s inconsistency and defensive sloppiness as they lead the league with 37 errors.

With Bryan Bello set to start Tuesday, the Red Sox (22-21) are hoping to hit the reset button, but after yet another Houck collapse, the ghosts of 1983 Red Sox History are once again haunting Fenway.