Michael Wacha’s first rehab start turns into historic night for Red Sox Triple-A WooSox

Michael Wacha’s first rehab start with Red Sox Triple-A affiliate WooSox turns into the first no-hitter for the team

What began as Michael Wacha’s first rehab start turned into an historic night for the WooSox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

While the big-league ballclub looked overmatched by the 42-64 Kansas City Royals, back in Worcester, Wacha struck out eight Durham Bulls batters over 4 2/3 hitless innings. 42 of his 63 pitches were strikes and he was perfect through four innings, before issuing a one-out walk. He struck out one last batter before leaving the game.

As rehab starts go, it doesn’t get much better than that.

The dominance continued with Andrew Politi, who went 2 1/3 innings, followed by Chase Shugart, whose two innings cemented the first no-hitter in WooSox history. A heroic ‘Andrew Benintendi in the 2018 ALCS’-esque catch by Devlin Granberg was the final nail in the Bulls’ coffin.

https://twitter.com/MiLB/status/1555369685419544576?s=20&t=UbSUd8KBugatZyKueLxl9A

Turnabout’s fair play for the Bulls, who decimated the WooSox on Tuesday, 16-0.

The WooSox officially moved from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to Worcester for the 2021 minor-league season after almost fifty years as the PawSox. According to MiLB’s records, there were nine no-hitters in PawSox history, none since Bronson Arroyo’s perfect game on August 10, 2003, the only perfecto in the organization’s Triple-A history. This is their second no-hitter against Durham; the first was thrown by Juan Peña on July 22, 1998.

Wacha hasn’t pitched for the Sox since the end of June, when right shoulder inflammation sent him to the Injured List, which has been full of Sox pitchers all summer. This rehab start is a promising sign that he’ll soon be ready to return to the big-league rotation.

Another bright spot in this historic contest was Abraham Almonte. The veteran outfielder, whom the Sox acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations at the end of July, homered twice in the 12-0 victory. Franchy Cordero, demoted this week, also contributed an RBI single and went 3-for-5 in the grand event.