Thursday’s 6-2 Red Sox loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Fla. included an early double ABS system whammy. Thanks to catcher JT Realmuto’s successful challenges on two balls that were, in fact, strikes, Phillies starter Jesus Luzardo ended the top of the first with back-to-back strikeouts to strand leadoff man Braiden Ward on third.

While the Phillies went 3 for 3 in challenges, the Red Sox went 0 for 2 to use up their nine-inning allotment. Red Sox catcher Matt Thaiss lost a challenge on a Kyle Keller Ball 4 to Adolis García in the bottom of the fifth, which loaded the bases for the Phillies. Replacement catcher Mickey Gasper unsuccessfully challenged a Ball 2 on Jacob Webb’s four-pitch leadoff walk to Austin Murr in the eighth.

With the majority of their big-league starting lineup competing in the World Baseball Classic, the offense is sputtering big-time. The Red Sox were out-hit 10-5, drew three walks and struck out 14 times. They were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. They’ve been outscored 10-2 over their last two games, though Thursday’s road lineup was almost exclusively minor leaguers and non-roster invitees (and, of course, the games don’t count). Of the starters, only Nick Sogard, who batted second and played shortstop, and Connor Wong, who bat cleanup and served as the designated hitter, appeared in games for the 2025 Red Sox.

Starter T.J. Sikkema took the loss after yielding three earned runs on five hits and striking out two in his 2 1/3 innings. Michael Sansone, Ryan Watson, Keller, Wyatt Olds, Webb and P.J. Labriola pitched the rest of the way for Boston.

High heat in DC

Former Red Sox top pitching prospect Luis Perales made his Washington Nationals debut in Thursday’s 7-4 victory over the New York Mets, and showed off his blazing four-seam fastball in his scoreless, hitless inning of work.

The righty threw the eight hardest pitches of the game, all four-seamers at 98.4 mph or faster and four that cleared 100 mph. Perales topped out at 100.5; the hardest pitch by anyone else in the game was Gus Varland’s 97.3 mph four-seamer in the ninth.

Boston dealt Perales to DC, where the front office is now run by former Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Toboni, in December to acquire lefty Jake Bennett. The swap, of two pitching prospects coming off Tommy John surgeries, added command to Boston’s pitching ranks and velocity to Washington’s.

Perales pitched 2 1/3 innings over three games for Red Sox Double-A (once) and Triple-A last season, and allowed two earned runs on zero hits, three walks and four strikeouts.

Bennett, whom the Nationals drafted twice, in the 39th round in 2019 and in the second round three years later, earned two promotions last season to rise from Single-A to Double-A. He pitched to a combined 2.27 ERA over 19 games (18 starts) with 64 strikeouts and 19 walks in 75 1/3 innings.

World Baseball Classic news

While Pools A, B and D of the World Baseball Classic begin their legs of the tournament Friday, Pool C got things started Thursday in Tokyo with a 3-0 Australia win over Chinese Taipei and an 11-4 Korea victory over Czechia.

Japan (and Red Sox DH Masataka Yoshida) play Chinese Taipei Friday, March 5 at 5 a.m. ET. 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the ball for the defending WBC champions.

Astros star Jeremy Peña suffered a fracture in the tip of his right ring finger during Team Dominican Republic’s exhibition game against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. The shortstop will miss the World Baseball Classic and is questionable for Opening Day. The Red Sox open the regular season with a six-game road trip to Cincinnati and Houston.

Judgement Week

Aaron Judge is among the best at blasting baseballs 400-plus feet out of any given ballpark, but his brief speech to Team USA teammates on Tuesday fell flat in the court of public opinion.

A 20-second clip of the New York Yankees captain’s impromptu remarks went viral on Major League Baseball’s X account (formerly Twitter) for a perceived lack of fire.

“I’m so fired up from that I could write a LinkedIn post,” one X user replied.

“This made me want to lightly jog through the softest wall I can possible find,” someone commented.

Judge also drew criticism for describing the team’s journey and goals as “sacrificing for your country, and you’re sacrificing for the brothers in the trenches with you every single day.”

“Does he know he’s going to play baseball not go into a war?” Asked another.

Public speaking may not be Judge’s forte, but he’s widely respected around the league, including by Team USA teammate Roman Anthony and Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

And Judge certainly knows how to bounce back. The day after his speech, he hit a 453-foot home run in Team USA’s exhibition victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Around the league

Longtime MLB outfielder and DH Andrew McCutchen has a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. … According to ESPN, which now runs MLB.TV, the Atlanta Braves’ March 2 win over the Tigers was the most-watched spring training game in the last 10 years, and a 54% increase over last year’s top views-getter between Boston and Baltimore. … Speaking of ESPN, the Red Sox have six players in their latest MLB Top 100 rankings, tied with the Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs for third-most in the majors (behind the Phillies’ seven and Dodgers’ eight): Garrett Crochet (No. 8), Roman Anthony (No. 33), Jarren Duran (No. 67), Ranger Suárez (No. 85), Ceddanne Rafaela (No. 88) and Aroldis Chapman (No. 93).