Returning home didn't cure what ails the Red Sox.
Another poor outing from a starting pitcher -- in this case, Chris Sale -- doomed the Sox and handed them their ninth loss in 12 games this season, a 7-5 setback to the Toronto Blue Jays in Boston's home opener.
Sale was gifted a 2-0 lead after two innings, but gave it up in the third and lost it completely with three runs allowed in the fourth, capped a steal of home.
The Red Sox' five-man rotation has allowed 51 earned runs in 50.1 innings this season with just one quality start in the first 12 games.
The Sox got solo homers from Mitch Moreland (No. 4) and Mookie Betts (No. 3) and a run-scoring double from Xander Bogaerts in addition to scoring two unearned runs.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays
WHEN: 2:05 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: First meeting of the season
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (0-2, 8.00) vs. RHP Matt Shoemaker (2-0, 0.00)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
4:35 Back-to-back walks hurt, as a bloop single drops in from Grichuk, scoring Hernandez with a run.
4:29 Bit of a scare for Pedroia as Hernandez slides in to Pedroia's left (surgically-repaired) left knee. Pedroia needs a minute, but appears to be OK.
4:12 Red Sox catch a break as Teoscar Hernandez drops a routine flyball to LF, allowing Bogaerts to score all the way from first as Devers takes second.
4:03 Line shot by Betts off a four-seam fastball at the top of the zone -- just barely clearly the wall, lands in the Monster Seats for the third homer of the season for Betts.
3:53 Second inning of work for Tyler Thornburg, who looked sharp in his first. Sox need innings from their bullpen -- again -- even after a day off Monday.
3:24 Straight steal of home by Lourdes Gurriel.
3:22 Brutal inning for Christian Vazquez, with two passed balls.
3:20 First swing-and-miss on a fastball for Sale in his 13th inning of work, fanning Alen Hanson.
3:02 Christian Vazquez thrown out stealing. Coming into today, the Sox had stolen 57 bases in the last 38 games against TOR.
2:48 Three ground ball singles in a row -- none hit particularly hard -- produce the first run for the Jays and gives them runners at the corners with one out.
2:38 Before the game, Alex Cora said he wanted Pedroia hitting seventh so that he would have some traffic when he came up. Indeed, runners at the corners with no out for his first AB of the season, but Pedroia grounds into a 6-4-3 DP.
2:23 Fourth homer of the season for Moreland, who crushes a hanging splitter and sends it into the TOR bullpen. Last season, didn't hit his fourth homer until May 1. No leads Sox with 10 RBI.
2:13 For what it's worth, Chris Sale hit 94 mph with a fastball to the first hitter, Freddy Galvis.
STARTING LINEUPS
RED SOX
Benintendi LF
Betts RF
Moreland 1B
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Pedroia 2B
Bradley CF
Vazquez C
BLUE JAYS
Galvis SS
Hernandez LF
Drury 3B
Grichuk CF
Jansen C
Gurriel Jr. DH
Urena 2B
Hanson 1B
McKinney RF
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox are hosting the latest home opener in the big leagues this season...Today, marks the 119th home opener and 108th at Fenway Park...This marks the fourth time that the Red Sox have hosted Toronto for their home opener, with the last occasion coming in 2002...The Sox are 71-47 all-time in the openers and 62-45 at Fenway...Last season, the Sox were 57-24 at Fenway, the best home record in the majors, while averaging 5.78 with an .829 OPS...Boston was 15-4 vs. Toronto last season, the most wins for them against the Blue Jays in franchise history...Since the start of 2017, the Sox are 28-10 against the Jays and are 10-1-1 in series against them...The Red Sox' eight relievers on the 25-man roster have combined to post a 1.86 ERA...After going just 2-for-16 in his first five games, Andrew Benintendi has hit in his last six straight, going 10-for-25, with two hits in each of his last four games...Shortstop Xander Bogaerts has reached safely in his last seven games and nine of his 10 games to date...J.D. Martinez was held hitless Sunday for the first time this season...Jackie Bradley Jr. is off to a slow start, going 7-for-38...The Sox are 16-4 in Christian Vazquez's last 20 Fenway starts...Mitch Moreland leads the team with nine RBI...Chris Sale was 4-2 with a 2.11 ERA in 12 starts at Fenway this season...Sale is coming off a start in which he allowed just one run in six innings against Oakland....In seven starts against Toronto since coming to Boston, Sale is 3-1 with a 2.30 ERA...Against Toronto hitters, Sale has limited Lourdes Gurriel to 1-for-7, while Randal Grichuk is 3-for-8 with a homer and RBI...The Sox don't have a ton of at-bats against Shoemaker...Martinez is just 2-for-13 against him, while Moreland is 3-for-7 with a homer and five RBI.
PRE-GAME NOTES
- The Sox activated 2B Dustin Pedroia from the IL and inserted him into the starting lineup, hitting seventh. Cora said the Sox want him toward the bottom of the order so that he'll have some traffic on base when he comes to the plate. Alex Cora said he still sees Pedroia as a "game changer'' defensively with what he brings to the infield. Offensively, where he can execute a hit-and-run and consistently put the ball in play.
- To make room for Pedroia's activation, the Red Sox optioned infielder Tzu-Wei Lin back to Pawtucket.
- Cora revealed that Sale was sick last week in Oakland, which partly explains his significant drop in velocity. Sale's fastball averaged less than 90 mph for the first time in a start even though he allowed just one run in six innings. "I don't like making excuses for my players but things happen for a reason,'' said Cora.
- When Brian Johnson went on the IL over the weekend in Phoenix, the Red Sox briefly thought the worst, believing that the lefty's season might be over. As it turned out, Johnson was diagnosed with inflamamtion in the elbow and the prognosis is much better.