The Red Sox finally pushed some runs across but it wasn't nearly enough as they fell to 0-2 and dropped a 4-2 decision to the Orioles.
Sloppy play again contributed to the loss. A throwing error by Rafael Devers and a passed ball from Kevin Plawecki led to two runs in the fourth and a misplay by Xander Bogaerts -- charitably ruled a hit -- led to another in the fifth.
Tanner Houck was the victim of that defense, though he was dominant at times, allowing two earned runs over five while fanning eight.
The Red Sox had two on and no out in the ninth but failed to get anything out of the opportuityn.
WHO: Red Sox (0-1) vs. Baltimore Orioles (1-0)
WHEN: 1:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: Baltimore 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Tanner Houck vs. RHP Matt Harvey
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM
LINEUPS
BALTIMORE
Mullins CF
Mancini 1B
Santasnder RF
Mountcastle DH
Ruiz 2B
Hays LF
Franco 3B
Galvis SS
Severino C
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo RF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Gonzalez 2B
Dalbec 1B
Cordero LF
Plawecki C
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T9: A reminder that Devers can, indeed, make good plays (and throws) on the run. Still, way too inconsistent.
B5: Sox pull to within a run when Martinez hits a hard grounder that's deflected off Harvey's leg, scoring a hustling Kevin Plawecky all the way from second base.
T5: One batter after making a nice stop of a hot smash with the infield drawn in, Xander Bogaerts can't make the backhand stop of a ball hit by Anthony Santander and a run scores. The play is inexplicably ruled a hit.
B4: Rough start to the season for Bobby Dalbec who has fanned in four of his first five plate appearances.
B4: Long sacrifice fly to right by Marwin Gonzalez, scoring Martinez from third, and the Red Sox season-opening scoreless streak is over in their 13th inning of play.
T4: A frequent issue with Devers has also been not sensing where his SS is. Bogaerts was in position to field that ball, only to have Devers make a sprawling stop to cut it off.
T4: Houck got ahead of Maikel Franco 1-and-2 but couldn't put him away. Sharp single up the middle scores two.
T4: Throwing error by Rafael Devers. Made a fine diving stop to his left, but then tried to throw to second from his knees and wasn't set. Problems continue there,.
T2: Houck has found his groove, striking out the side in the Baltimore second. He's struck out four of the last six hitters he's faced.
B1: Left fielder Austin Hays loses a routine ball in the sun on the warning track and it drops in for a gift double for Martinez.
T1: Second baseman Marwin Gonzalez allows a routine pop-up to drop in on purpose, allowing the Red Sox to cut down the speedier Cedric Mullins on a force play at second as Trey Mancini takes first.
PRE-GAME STATS: Friday represented the fifth time the Red Sox were held to two hits or fewer in an Opening Day game and the first time since 1959....The Sox were coming off a spring in which they led the Grapefruit League in runs scored, homers, batting average, slugging percentage and OPS....Today, Xander Bogaerts will move past Freddy Parent into fourth place for the most number of games at shortstop in franchise history with 910 games...Hirokazu Sawamura turns 33 today....Martin Perez will celebrate his 34th birthday Sunday....Tanner Houck could become only the fifth Red Sox pitcher in history to win each of his first four major league outings -- all as a starter. The last to do so was Don Schwall in 1961...Only three Red Sox hitters in the lineup have ever faced Matt Harvey before today: Bogaerts (1-for-3), Franchy Cordero (1-for-2 with a homer) and Marwin Gonzalez (1-for-4).
NOTES:
- The Red Sox had a number of changes from their Opening Day lineup, with Kiké Hernández moving from shortstop to center field, Alex Verdugo moving from right to center, Marwin Gonzalez going from left to second, Franchy Cordero inserted into left and Kevin Plawecki taking over for Christian Vazquez behind the plate "It's just the nature of who we are and what we can do on a daily basis,'' said Alex Cora his team's many options.
- Eduardo Rodriguez threw a four-inning simulated game at the alternate site in Worcester. "It's not the same as a big league game,'' concede Cora. "His velocity was off, but it was not health related. He felt fine. Now, it's just wait to see how he reacts today. We'll know more probably tomorrow morning where he's at and what we're going to do with him.''
- Cora on Cordero's debut: "He can play tight end for the Patriots if they need him. Great athlete, hard worker. The feedback we got from the Padres and Royals sometimes you have to slow him down, as far as the work. Very quiet kid who is willing to learn. He seems like he's making strides for what we envisioned as far as controlling the strike zone, having better rhythm at the plate. Hopefully that's the hitter we're going to get - somebody that can drive the ball to left field and whenever they hand a ball into the strike zone, he can pull it for power. In the training room and the weight room, he's following our lead. He knows that's the question marks about his health. He's putting the work on. He's in a good spot right now.''
- Garrett Richards will make his Red Sox debut in the series finale Sunday. As a member of the Angels, Richards blew out his knee at Fenway in 2014 while trying to cover first base, but he said that's far from his thoughts. "To be honest withy you, I don't really think about it at all anymore. It happened quite a while ago and I've kind of moved on and past it.''
- Richards was place in contact tracing protocol after the COVID-19 scare for Matt Barnes last week, but said it wasn't a huge issue. "Anytime you're involved with the virus,'' he said, "I think it's a serious thing. I was a little caught off-guard; I think everybody was. But it wasn't anything that we couldn't handle. I still found a way to activate my arm at the house and tried to stay sharp through those couple of days while we were away from the team. Thank God everything was false and negative.''