It had been north of a month since Jhoulys Chacin last pitched in a big league game, so you could forgive him if there was some rust Friday.
Instead, the veteran righty looked sharp as ever in a 6-1 win over the New York Yankees in the series opener of a four-game set at Fenway Park.
Chacin pitched two innings, which was by design, and retired all six batters he faced, striking out four of them and inducing groundouts to the two others. It was a tremendous start for a team that is going to need quality showings from its pitchers if it wants any shot at the postseason.
After the game, Chacin had a pretty simple response to not just getting back onto the field, but dazzling in his first outing.
“That felt good, man,” Chacin said, via The Boston Globe.
We can imagine it did.
The Red Sox and Yankees will return to action Saturday afternoon, with first pitch set for 4:05 p.m. ET.
