Red Sox 5, Brewers 0: Shane Drohan loses the strike zone in MLB debut

BOSTON – For the first time this season, the Milwaukee Brewers have dropped a series.

First, Shane Drohan , making his major-league debut, lost his control of the strike zone during the third inning. Then, the Brewers lost the game.

With right-hander Sonny Gray stifling the offense, Drohan's struggles spelled doom for the Brewers in a 5-0 defeat to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park April 8.

The 27-year-old Drohan, facing his former organization after coming to Milwaukee in an off-season trade, was unable to complete three innings, with walks serving as his doom.

Gray, meanwhile, spelled the end for the Brewers' offense, which was shut out for the first time since Game 4 of the National League Division Series last October.

The Brewers, who return home for a six-game homestand after splitting their road trip with three wins and three losses, were held homerless for an entire series for the first time since July 21-23, 2025 at Seattle .

Command spirals on Shane Drohan

After seemingly calming the jitters in a clean, quick second inning, Drohan's third was the exact thing you worry about in a debut.

Drohan walked three and gave up three singles as he departed before even finishing the inning having thrown 63 pitches on the afternoon and only 28 for strikes.

Ceddanne Rafaela opened the frame with a line drive single to left and moved up on Isiah Kiner-Falefa's bunt hit. Then the walks began.

Drohan walked Andruw Monasterio to load the bases, then lost a long battle with Willson Contreras to bring home the game's first run. After David Hamilton botched a potential inning-ending double play grounder – a play ruled a hit – Trevor Story hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 and Drohan issued his third free pass of the inning, this one bringing his afternoon to a close.

ABS challenge thwarts Brewers rally

A successful challenge by catcher Carlos Narvaez turned a Joey Ortiz walk to load the bases with two outs in the seventh into an inning-ending strikeout.

With two on and two outs, Ortiz reached a full count when reliever Greg Weissert was called for a pitch timer violation. Weissert then painted the outside corner with a sinker that Ortiz took for a ball until Narvaez tapped his helmet and the scoreboard showed it caught plenty of the plate for strike three.

Red Sox add to lead late

Three straight singles against reliever Jake Woodford pushed Boston's lead to five in the seventh.

Story lined the last of the trio back to center and Caleb Durbin followed with by beating out a double play to make it 5-0.

Woodford was tasked with soaking up the final innings of the ballgame for the Brewers, who pitched Grant Anderson and Aaron Ashby to get through the sixth after Drohan's abbreviated outing.

Sonny Gray not giving much up

The well-traveled Gray is well-versed in facing the Brewers, with his start being the 21st of his career against Milwaukee of his career, most of any opponent.

It went like many of the previous 20 through five, as outside of a leadoff double by Sal Frelick in the first and consecutive two-out singles in the third the Brewers offense mustered up little outside of some weak contact.

Gray did it is his typical fashion, mixing speeds and pounding the strike zone with his deep arsenal. He challenged the Brewers with a bevy of cutters, curveballs and fastballs that, while he didn't miss a ton of bats, eluded barrels.

The 35-year-old right-hander retired 10 Brewers in a row following a Christian Yelich two-out hit to put runners on the corners in the third.

Gray's final line read just three hits and two walks over 6 1/3 scoreless, managing zero after zero despite striking out only two.

Brice Turang out for the second straight day

Brewers second baseman Brice Turang, dealing with left ankle tendonitis since early in the season, was on the bench for the second straight day but expects to be back in the lineup on Friday.

What time is the Brewers game today?

12:35 p.m.

What channel is the Brewers game on today?

TV Channel: Brewers.TV

Brewers 2026 record

8-4.

Brewers lineup

• Sal Frelick RF

• Garrett Mitchell CF

• Christian Yelich DH

• Jake Bauers 1B

• Gary Sanchez C

• Luis Rengifo 3B

• Brandon Lockridge LF

• David Hamilton 2B

• Joey Ortiz SS

Red Sox lineup

• Roman Anthony LF

• Andruw Monasterio SS

• Willson Contreras 1B

• Wilyer Abreu RF

• Trevor Story SS

• Caleb Durbin 3B

• Carlos Narvaez C

• Ceddanne Rafaela CF

• Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2B

Brewers schedule

Off-day April 9.

Brewers vs. Nationals, April 10,6:40 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Chad Patrick (1-0, 0.96) vs. Washington RHP Jake Irvin (1-1, 8.00). TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.

Brewers vs. Nationals, April 11,6:10 p.m.: Milwaukee RHP Brandon Sproat (0-1, 14.85) vs. Washington LHP Foster Griffin (1-0, 2.70) TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.

Brewers vs. Nationals, April 12,1:10 p.m.: Milwaukee LHP Kyle Harrison (1-0, 2.61) vs. Washington RHP Zack Littell (0-1, 3.60) TV – Brewers.TV. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Red Sox 5, Brewers 0: Shane Drohan loses the strike zone in MLB debut