Opponent's Historic Feat Highlights Red Sox's Offensive Struggles
The Boston Red Sox didn't make Zack Wheeler work too hard on Tuesday.
Opponent's Historic Feat Highlights Red Sox's Offensive Struggles originally appeared on NESN . Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Boston Red Sox didn't force Zack Wheeler to break much of a sweat early in Tuesday's 2-1 loss .
Wheeler limited the Red Sox to one run in his fourth start back from thoracic outlet decompression surgery. The Philadelphia Phillies ace worked a season-high 7 1/3 innings in just 87 pitches at Fenway Park. Boston posed little opposition the first time through the batting order.
Wheeler threw 16 pitches through three innings, which MLB noted was the fewest needed by a starting pitcher to navigate the first three innings of a game since 2000. Wheeler started the outing by retiring Jarren Duran, Mickey Gasper and Wilyer Abreu on the second pitch of each at-bat. He hit Masataka Yoshida with a pitch to commence the second inning, but quickly erased the baserunner when Trevor Story grounded into a double play.
Ceddanne Rafaela also grounded out after chasing a sinker off the plate. Marcelo Mayer hit a leadoff single on the third inning's opening pitch, but Wheeler again quickly thwarted any trouble. Carlos Narváez flied out on the second pitch of his at-bat, and Caleb Durbin grounded into an inning-ending double play on the first pitch.