Making his first appearance in game action in nearly a year, Red Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito only made it through one inning before experiencing another injury setback.

Giolito was removed from Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies early due to left hamstring tightness, the club announced. The right-hander had struggled with his command, throwing just 10 of his 24 pitches for strikes, and then did not return for a planned second inning.

Following his outing Giolito said he felt his hamstring tighten up on the first pitch of the game, and that he had to adjust his front leg mechanics to battle through. He said he doesn’t believe the injury is serious but isn’t sure if his next scheduled start will be impacted.

“We’ve got to look at it more. I’ve pulled my hamstring before in my career a few times and it feels very minor,” Giolito said. “Just an annoying little setback, I guess.”

Manager Alex Cora said Giolito will undergo an MRI on Wednesday.

Pitching in his first game since undergoing internal brace surgery in his right elbow, Giolito appeared rusty out of the gate. The 30-year-old walked Bryson Stott, allowed a double to Johan Rojas and then walked Brandon Marsh to load the bases with nobody out. He recovered by drawing back-to-back sacrifice flies and then escaped without further incident by striking out Rafael Marchan to end the threat.

The right-hander ultimately tossed just the one inning, allowing two runs on two walks and one hit. His fastball sat at 93 mph and he also worked on his changeup, cutter, slider and curveball. Following the outing Giolito said it was hard to draw any conclusions about his performance since he wasn’t throwing the way he normally does, which contributed to his erratic command.

Either way, Giolito sounded an optimistic tone that the issue will prove a minor speed bump.

“I wouldn’t even categorize this as an injury really at this point,” Giolito said. “So I’m going to do the protocol, get it looked at and it shouldn’t be too bad.”

Walks galore

Giolito’s command problems turned out to be the tip of the iceberg, as the Red Sox bullpen endured a brutal day following his departure in what wound up being a 18-8 loss.

Adam Ottavino came on in the second inning and posted his worst outing of the spring, allowing six runs on three hits, three walks and two wild pitches while recording just one out. Austin Adams didn’t fare any better in the fourth, walking five batters while allowing three runs, and Luis Guerrero walked three and gave up four runs in the sixth.

Collectively the Red Sox walked 16 batters as a team.

Offensively, Ceddanne Rafaela went 1 for 2 with a two-run double, Romy Gonzalez had an RBI triple, and David Hamilton, Vaughn Grissom, Trayce Thompson and Nick Sogard each drove in runs as well.

Story scratched

Trevor Story was originally supposed to be in the lineup batting fourth and playing shortstop for the Red Sox, but he was scratched roughly two hours before first pitch for precautionary reasons due to mild upper back tightness.

“He was taking grounders today and he felt it a little bit,” Cora said. “He should play tomorrow.”

Marcelo Mayer started at shortstop in his place.

Coming up next

Tanner Houck will return to the mound on Wednesday to face the Minnesota Twins, and he will be followed out of the bullpen by Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock and Cooper Criswell. Wednesday’s game will be played at JetBlue Park and first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.

Following that the Red Sox will embark on a two-day swing across Florida’s east coast, with games against the Mets in Port St. Lucie on Thursday and the Marlins in Jupiter on Friday. Ceddanne Rafaela, Triston Casas and Romy Gonzalez will be among the big leaguers traveling to the east coast for those games.

Extra innings

The Red Sox optioned right-hander Hunter Dobbins to minor league camp. The club now has 55 players remaining in big league camp, including 18 non-roster invitees. … Friday’s “Futures at Fenway South” game at JetBlue Park will be a minor league game between the Red Sox and Twins featuring players from all levels of the minors. The rosters for the game won’t be set until Friday morning, a Red Sox spokesperson confirmed.