A pair of Boston Red Sox relief pitchers were “tasked” with more than just taking the mound Sunday afternoon at Chase Field.
Marcus Walden and Matt Barnes each stepped into the batter’s box for his first career Major League Baseball plate appearance during the Red Sox’s 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Both right-handers went down via strikeout, but as manager Alex Cora revealed after the game, he instructed all of his pitchers not to swing the bat, per the Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato.
Still, it was an unusual occurrence to see multiple Red Sox relievers get at-bats during a single game. In fact, it hasn’t happened for the franchise in nearly 50 years.
While Red Sox relief arms went through the motions at the plate in the series finale, they were stellar on the hill. After Hector Velazquez started the game with three scoreless innings, Brandon Workman, Walden, Barnes and Ryan Brasier followed suit, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out five over the final six frames.
