Kevin Pillar and Jose Peraza, each making their Red Sox debuts, combined for seven hits and five RBI while Nathan Eovaldi gave the Sox six strong innings as the Sox clubbed the hapless Baltimore Orioles 13-2 in the season opener for both teams.
The Sox eruped for four runs in the third, added six more in the fifth as they sent 11 men to the plate and finally tacked on another three runs in outclassing the Orioles.
Boston totaled eight doubles -- including four in the four-run explosion in the third alone -- and had a total of 17 hits.
Jackie Bradley Jr. also had a big night with three hits, two RBI and three runs scored. Five different Red Sox players had multi-hit games.
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:39 The hits just keep on coming for Peraza. A single in the bottom of the eight gives him a four-hit night.
10:00 Peraza joins the three-hit club (charter members: Pillar and Martinez) with a double to left. That's eight two-baggers for the Sox.
9:57 Bradley has his second opposite-field double of the night. This one scrapes the wall and scores two. Red Sox have seven doubles in six innings.
9:51 Three-hit night for Pillar in his Red Sox debut.
9:41 Eovaldi's shutout bid ends with two out in the sixth as Renato Nunez doubles home Anthony Santander.
9:19 A strange thing for Eovaldi -- despite throwing in the high 90s regularly and occasionally hitting triple digits on the radar gun, he doesn't get a lot of swing-and-miss. His first strikeout came with one out in the fifth.
9:04 Pillar has a night: nice running catch, two hits and three RBI in his first game with the Sox
8:57 Martinez has the inside-out swing in mid-season form. Drive the ball to deepest part of RF, where it hops over the wall for two-run double.
8:38 Throw sails on Devers after a nice backhand stop on an in-between hop. Looked like Chavis jumped (and came off the bag) when he didn't have to, allowing Leo Nunez to reach.
8:28 Four doubles now this inning alone off Milone -- all into the left-field corner, three pulled by RH hitters.
8:20 Third double of the inning -- all into the LF corner -- this one from J.D. Martinez, scoring Peraza. Sox up 2-0.
8:16 Jose Peraza's first official at-bat as member of the Red Sox is a run-scoring double, producing the first run of the season.
8:14 Jackie Bradley slashes a leadoff down just inside the third base line. The Sox continue to preach the importance of using the whole field.
8:05 Tough look there for Christian Vazquez, who's caught leaning the wrong way with a lead off first and is easily picked off first by Milone.
7:51: The Sox had Chris Davis shifted perfectly. Jose Peraza, 20 feet onto the RF grass, throws him out at first.
7:48: Tommy Milone makes quick work of Xander Bogaerts, fanning him on three pitches -- the last two of which were tough, touch changeups at the very bottom of the zone.:
7:45: Rafael Devers chases a tough slider, just outside the strike zone, for the second out of the first.
7:36: Fine running catch - with a leap at the end -- by Kevin Pillar in right for the first out in the game. Looked a little unsure of how much room he had near the warning track. This is why he wanted to play RF as much as possible in summer camp. He was already comfortable in CF with all the visits here with TOR.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Benintendi LF
Martinez DH
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Pillar RF
Vazquez C
Chavis 1B
Bradley CF
Peraza 2B
ORIOLES
Hays CF
Santander RF
Iglesias SS
Nunez DH
Davis 1B
Alberto 2B
Ruiz 3b
Severino C
Stewart LF
WHO: Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles
WHEN: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: 0-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (2-1, 5.99 in 2019) vs. LHP Tommy Milone (4-10, 4.76 in 2019)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI 93.7 FM
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- In something of a surprise, OF Alex Verdugo was out of the starting lineup on Opening Day against the Orioles and lefty Tommy Milone. Verdugo has posted an .811 OPS against lefties gcompared to .794 against righties. Ron Roenicke had said that he wanted to get Kevin Pillar into the lineup against lefties. With Jackie Bradley Jr.'s troubles against lefties, the expectation was that Pillar would play center over Bradley, with Verdugo in right. Instead, Bradley was in the lineup, Pillar in right and Verdugo sat. "We talked about it the last couple of days, how we thought it would go against a lefthander,'' Roenicke said. "I called (Verdugo) this morning and talked to him about it. He reassured him that he does hit lefthanders pretty well, which I know. I think a lot of it has to do with Jackie and Benny swinging the bat well these three weeks, and then with Pillar, I've kind of slotted him into that spot in right field. But things could definitely change Sunday when he face our next lefty.''
- Friday marked the regular season debut as Roenicke as Red Sox manager and marked the first time he's managed a regular season game since April of 2015. "All that time, sitting and waiting at home and trying to figure out what was happening,'' he said. "And then finally getting to this point and the three weeks of camp....So, all building up to this point. I'm excited about it. I'm excited to see what our team's going to do. Opening Day is always a different feeling. So even though we waited a long time, it's still great to have it come tonight.''
- Xander Bogaerts said the Sox will have to adjust to playing in an empty ballpark with no fans and learn to supply their own energy. "It's going to be wild, bro. That first inning, you're hyped up baseball's back, the game's gonna start, it's all fun. As the game goes along, we have to find a way to get the adrenaline going and try to create some type of energy because there's no one in the stands cheering you on. Bottom of the 7th, bases loaded -- I'm looking forward to see how that plays out. because obviously Fenway would (ordinarily) be rocking at those times. It's something that's going to be new for us. It's going to be challenge. but we'll do the best we can with it. We're going to have to be our best cheerleaders for the guy who's hitting and the guy on the mound. Obviously, the guys who aren't playing will have to do a tremendous job picking us up. It's going to be different.''