NESN broadcast painfully teased Red Sox fans (and got some kicked out) vs. Phillies

A recently recovered Zack Wheeler on May 12 took the mound at Fenway Park and mowed the Boston Red Sox's offense down in one of the easiest outings of his career. The veteran needed just 16 pitches to get through the first three innings, the fewest thrown by a starter facing the minimum of three batters over as many innings since 2000.

The Red Sox's struggling offense didn't know how to respond to Wheeler's dominance. They grounded into two double plays, making mostly soft contact, if anything, and he struck them out four times. Boston didn't make Wheeler work until the seventh frame, when Wilyer Abreu and NESN gave Red Sox fans everywhere the tease of their lives.

With Mickey Gasper on first base in a 2-0 Philadelphia Phillies lead, Abreu crushed a sky-high fly ball to deep right field. The NESN camera operator followed the ball well into the night as Dave O'Brien's call willed it to be a home run. But the ball dropped into Adolis Garcia's glove for the first out of the inning.

Ceddanne Rafaela delivered a fly ball single soon after to score Gasper for Boston's first and only run of the game, but Abreu's near-miss is the story of the night. His fly ball would've been a homer in 29 of 30 ballparks, excluding the usually-hitter-friendly Fenway. The Red Sox ended up losing, 2-1 — Abreu's reverse-unicorn and Rafaela's RBI would've won them he game.

Red Sox, NESN tease fans with near Wilyer Abreu home run against Phillies

Boston has had virtually no luck overcoming deficits this season, and when its seventh-inning opportunity was lost, the night was over before the game even ended. Two Sox fans sitting behind the plate at Fenway Park saw the writing on the wall and donned paper bags on their heads to protest the team's poor showing so far.

But at the end of the inning, the two fans were either no longer in their seats or told to remove the bags. Most fans on social media have assumed that the Red Sox quashed their protest, as some teams have been known to do, like before the Athletics left Oakland and their broadcast avoided showing the "sell the team" shirts that riddled the stands.

The paper bag fans paid to watch the Red Sox play awful baseball in person and they should be able to do so as they see fit. Fenway Park's stifling of their protest ony brings more attention to the matter, the opposite of the intended effect.

The Red Sox's offense has been pathetic all season and ownership is just as pathetic if they can't take fans' criticism about it. This Boston team with the worst offense the club has seen in years was built on ownership's ridiculous and unnecessary money-saving tactics that led them to whiff on Alex Bregman and not even make an offer to Kyle Schwarber, who promptly homered upon his return to Fenway (subscription required).

Fans should be allowed to express their discontent without the men in charge throwing a tantrum, and if the front office can't accept that, it should've built a better team.

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