Things have not been going well for the Boston Red Sox lineup this season, and the top of their lineup reached a new historic low on Wednesday afternoon in a 7-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
That was when the 1-2-3 hitters (Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu) all struck out in each of their first three plate appearances.
That had never been done before.
Top of Red Sox lineup sets new mark for strikeout futility
As pointed out by Red Sox host/announcer Tom Caron, it is the first time in the modern era (going back to 1901) that the first three hitters in a lineup each struck out three times in their first three at-bats to open a game.
That’s not deal.
All nine strikeouts came against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen. Rasmussen was masterful in his start, throwing seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits, one walk and striking out 13 batters. That includes the aforementioned nine strikeouts against Duran, Rafaela and Abreu.
Making matters worse, cleanup hitter Willson Contreras also went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
Rafaela did attempt to salvage some of the day for the Red Sox lineup by hitting a three-run home run in the eighth inning, but it was way too little, way too late for the Red Sox.
In total, the first four hitters in the Red Sox lineup went 2-for-15 for the game with zero walks and 11 strikeouts.
Part of it is the fact Rasmussen was simply locked in on Wednesday.
Part of it is the nature of the beast in modern-day baseball where strikeouts are just generally more widely accepted and happen with more frequency.
And still part of it is just that the Red Sox lineup has not been good enough this season.
Put it all together and you have a recipe for history. Infamous as it might be.