Bedard: Not the result anyone wanted, but more good than bad from Sox

St. Petersburg, Fla. — David Price, Red Sox Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

Ok, so that's a bit dramatic off of a season-opening 6-4 loss to the Rays. But, suddenly, the mercurial left-hander's first start on Friday in Game 2 of 162 looms a lot larger as he and the Red Sox try to distance themselves from last year's doom-and-gloom version of themselves.

It shouldn't come to that. It shouldn't have come close to any of that.

But here we are, with at least parts of New England fretting about the new manager's credentials, the setup men in front of Craig Kimbrel (when he's available), whether J.D. Martinez (0-for-3, two strikeouts) was worth the wait and dough (five years, $110 million), and whether the Yankees (6-1 winners) and Giancarlo Stanton (two home runs) will leave the Sox in the dust.

It's what we do. It's who we are. It's what makes New England the best baseball region in the country.

But take a breath for a minute. There's a long way to go.

Absolutely, Alex Cora deserves a restless night sleep for his decisions in the eighth inning — how many guys does Joe Kelly have to walk with a four-run lead to get pulled? (three, apparently) — and Martinez will need to pick it up before the home opener on Thursday. But for seven-and-half innings on Thursday, we saw parts of what makes this Red Sox team a contender this season.

Start with Chris Sale. The big left-hander didn't even have his best stuff — if you can say that about allowing one hit and striking out nine in six innings of work — and the Rays only once got runners into scoring position against him.

"My walks were up there, my command was kind of in and out at times but for the most part, I felt like I was under control," said Sale, who walked three. "Just trying to feed off of (Christan Vazquez) and use my defense as much as I could and keep rolling.

"I felt as good as ever out there tonight. Leg was a non-issue. Body felt good, arm felt good."

The big lefty's health was of paramount concern when his last spring start was cut short after he took a line drive off the hip, which sent a shooting pain down his leg. Sale showed no ill-effects against the Rays, as he threw 92 pitches with 54 strikes.

The only time he ran into trouble was with two outs in the second when a walk, single and a passed ball by Vazquez put a runner on third base. But a strikeout ended the minor threat. Sale started the next inning with a walk as he continued to search for his pinpoint control, but then he retired the next eight batters.

"A little bit was command," Sale said of his issues. "That's a tough team over there. They're big leaguers too. You not just going to come out and breeze through it all."

It was also a great sign that Xander Bogaerts got off to a fast start with hits in his first three at-bats, including two doubles that were hit on the nose. Due to a hand injury, he batted just .235 in the second half of last season. There was the worry that he might have developed some bad habits that would linger into this season, but Bogaerts was obviously feeling much more confident against the Rays.

Eduardo Nunez, who is tending to second base as Dustin Pedroia comes back from knee surgery, had an inside-the-park home run and a double to keep the team alive in the ninth inning.

Throw in that Matt Barnes pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, and all was not lost. It just feels that way.

Yes, these Rays are supposed to be terrible, and the Red Sox have the highest payroll in baseball — by far. And a game that was flying by and looked to be a surefire winner disintegrated under a hail of walks (four) and balls (35 out of 49 total pitches by Kelly and Carson Smith) while closer Craig Kimbrel didn't even get up to warm.

"We show up to win, obviously, but things like that happen, that's why we play the game," Sale said. "You don't take it for granted, it's never over but you take it off the chin and come back tomorrow ready to go.

"It happens, man. It's part of the game. I've been there in that exact scenario. Nobody feels worse than them. I don't see anybody in here hanging their heads."

This first one stings, for sure. But there's a lot of season left.

You're up, David Price.