Red Sox’s Michael Wacha Reflects On IL Stint, Latest Outing Vs. Orioles

The Boston Red Sox got just what they needed from righty starting pitcher Michael Wacha in the second game of a three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

Wacha tossed five 2/3 innings, keeping the Orioles’ offense scoreless. The 31-year-old veteran walked just one while striking out four in the 4-3 win.

Wacha, who missed the entire month of July recovering from right shoulder inflammation, reflected on his latest outing, while also attributing his bounce-back success to his rehab work during his stint on the injured list.

“I was just trying to get as deep as I could,” Wacha said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I know that we used some of our bullpen guys out there yesterday, and some extended roles. … Today we felt comfortable, it’s just stick to our plan and go out and attack these guys and hopefully get them out as quickly as possible.”

Wacha added: “While I was on the IL, continue to work on things that I need to work on, so whenever I got back here, they’d be cleaned up. Just trying to pick up where I left off. … Overall, I felt pretty good out there.”

That’s now back-to-back strong showings from Wacha, who tossed seven shutout innings on Aug. 14 against the Yankees — his return from spending over a month on the IL.

Wacha now sits at 8-1 on the season, with a 2.28 ERA in 15 starts as a member of the Red Sox.