BOSTON — The Red Sox got a bounce-back start from Tanner Houck, but the bullpen couldn’t hold on to a two-run lead and Boston lost, 8-4, to the White Sox on Sunday.

Manager Alex Cora had high praise for his starter. He didn’t mince words when it came to his relievers.

“He did an amazing job, gave us six, his best start of the season,” Cora said. “Guys have to step up in the bullpen, that’s the bottom line. … Yesterday was a walk at one point, today is (three) hit-by-pitches, so we just got to be better.”

Coming off a 2 2/3-inning start against the Rays in Tampa in which he yielded a career-worst 12 runs (11 earned), Houck went six innings on Sunday and held the White Sox to two earned runs on three hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts. The lone damage came on a two-run homer by catcher Matt Thais in the top of the first, but buoyed by his team taking a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the inning, Houck rebounded and finished the outing strong.

“I’ve kind of been scuffling, even in spring training, with delivery stuff, but slowly just kind of working your way through it, and showing up each and every day with a good attitude, and chipping away at it, kind of the recipe to success,” Houck said. “And it’s not always the most fun or glamorous, but it’s the stuff that works.”

Though velocity was down on each of his four pitches, command was sharper and the results were far better; he induced double-digit swings-and-misses (12) for the first time this season.

“I think usage was good,” Cora assessed. “(He) was able to bury the sinker in, off to righties, was able to spin the ball, too. And this is a team that actually, they don’t chase that much, and he had them off-balance today.”

Trailing 2-0 after Chicago’s first time at the plate, the Red Sox responded by seizing an early opportunity of their own. White Sox infielders Lenyn Sosa and Miguel Vargas made back-to-back errors to put Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman on base in the bottom of the first, and Wilyer Abreu homered to right-field to give Boston a 3-2 lead. In the following inning, Jarren Duran’s single plated Boston’s fourth and final run of the afternoon.

Overall, however, the Boston bats weren’t particularly productive — they collected six hits, with Kristian Campbell putting together the only multi-hit performance — but again wasted several silver-platter opportunities. The White Sox pitching staff issued four walks and a hit batsman. The Red Sox responded by going 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight men on base, including a loaded diamond in the bottom of the second.

“There were some at-bats in the middle of the game that we had (a) man at second, no outs, and we didn’t put him away,” Cora said.

A combined implosion by Zack Kelly and Justin Wilson turned the game on its head in the seventh. Taking over for Houck, Kelly gave up a leadoff single to Sosa and loaded the diamond by plunking Joshua Palacios and Vargas. Wanting to preserve his 4-2 lead, Cora didn’t wait to make a pitching change.

“He was great three days ago, but we gotta be consistent,” Cora said of Kelly. “We got to be better, and then one good outing a week (isn’t enough) — and he knows it.”

Wilson allowed all three runners to score on pinch-hits by Brooks Baldwin (sacrifice bunt) and rookie catcher Edgar Queor, who picked up his first career RBI with a two-run single.

Liam Hendriks’ Red Sox debut wasn’t a clean outing, either, but his return, 681 days after his last appearance before Tommy John surgery, was an achievement in itself. The veteran reliever gave up three hits, including a two-run homer to Andrew Vaughn, in his eighth inning.

“He’s out there, that’s great,” Cora said, explaining that Hendriks needed to pitch after not doing so since Wednesday. “It’s good to get his feet wet. Obviously he doesn’t like the outing but the fact that he fought, and he put himself in this position, you got to tip your hat to him.”

Lefty Brennan Bernardino had Boston’s third hit-by-pitch and allowed an unearned run to score in the ninth.

Nevertheless, Sunday was a frustratingly familiar step backward for the Red Sox, who came into the contest with a four-game winning streak.

The pair of Sox conclude their quartet on Monday morning, with the customary 11 a.m. Marathon Monday game.

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