Zach Plesac didn’t earn the win in his first career big league start, but he didn’t leave Fenway Park empty-handed Tuesday night.
Plesac earned a no-decision in the Cleveland Indians’ comeback victory over the Boston Red Sox. The 24-year-old right-hander showed poise in his Major League Baseball debut, allowing just one run on four hits over 5 1/3 innings. Plesac went toe-to-toe with one of the game’s best pitchers of the past decade, who tipped his cap to the youngster after the game.
“David Price wrote me a letter and left it at my locker,” Plesac said, per MLB.com. “He told me, ‘Congrats on your debut. Good luck, kid.’ … It’s motivating. It means everything, really. It humbles me too at the same time.”
Now that’s how you pay it forward.
Price was awfully sharp himself, tossing six shutout innings in which he only allowed three hits while striking out six. Unfortunately for the veteran southpaw, a lousy performance from Boston’s bullpen prevented him from picking up his third win of the season.
