Kevin Appier got the start for Kansas City and Jose Offerman made his Red Sox debut by lining a double to start the top of the first. Darren Lewis popped up to center, John Valentin flied out to left and Nomar Garciaparra grounded out to third to end the inning. The Royals wasted no time scoring off Pedro in the bottom of the first. Carlos Beltran watched strike three go by but Joe Randa smashed a 900 foot home run to give KC the lead. Johnny Damon singled and stole second but Jeff King whiffed. Larry Sutton doubled home Damon and Jermaine Dye was robbed by Troy O'Leary on a fly ball to end the inning with the Royals up 2-0 early.
The Sox looked to get something going in the top of the second inning when Troy O'Leary walked and Mike Stanley singled. Scott Hatteberg banged into a double play to kill the rally before Jeff Frye grounded out to second to end the inning. Pedro got Chad Kreuter to pop up to second to open the bottom of the second but Rey Sanchez doubled to right. Carlos Febles flied out to left and Beltran hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
The Sox struck back in the top of the third inning although Trot Nixon whiffed to start. Offerman singled and stole second before moving to third on the Lewis ground out. Valentin swatted his first home run of the year to tie the game. Nomar grounded out to second to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Pedro kept the game tied in the bottom of the third as Randa lined out to center to start. Damon looked at strike three before King walked. King swiped second but Sutton whiffed to end the inning.
O'Leary singled to open the top of the fourth but Stanley banged into a double play. Hatteberg walked but Frye grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Dye singled to start the bottom of the fourth but Kreuter grounded into a double play. Sanchez whiffed to end the inning.
The Sox did nothing in the top of the fifth as Nixon grounded out to first, Offerman flied out to right and Lewis popped up to second to end the inning. Pedro got Febles to pop up to right to begin the bottom of the fifth before Beltran singled. Beltran swiped second but Pedro blew away Randa and Damon to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the sixth although Valentin flied out to left to begin. Nomar walked, O'Leary doubled and Stanley singled home Garciaparra to give the Sox the lead. Hatteberg singled home O'Leary to chase Appier. Don Wengert came in and got Frye to ground out and Nixon to fly out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
Pedro came back for one more inning in the bottom of the sixth. King flied out to left before Sutton and Dye whiffed to end the inning. It was scary at first but Pedro ended up tossing 6 innings of 2 run ball while striking out 9.
Offerman singled to left to open the top of the seventh but Lewis grounded out to second. Valentin and Nomar both grounded out to short to end the inning. Derek Lowe took over for the bottom of the seventh and walked Kreuter to begin. Sanchez reached on a Valentin error before a sacrifice bunt by Febles put the tying runs in scoring position. Beltran grounded out to third but Kreuter scored to cut the lead. Randa flied out to left to end the inning but it was 4-3 Sox.
Matt Whisenant came in to pitch the top of the eighth and got O'Leary to ground out to first to begin. Stanley was plunked and Hatteberg walked to chase Whisenant. Scott Service came in and Frye singled to load the bases, but Nixon banged into a double play to end the inning. Lowe returned for the bottom of the eighth and got Damon to ground back to the mound to begin. King looked at strike three before Sutton grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Sox added an insurance run in the top of the ninth as Offerman triped to start. Lewis whiffed but Valentin doubled to left to score Offerman with the kill shot. Nomar singled Valentin to third but O'Leary banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-3.
Sox closer Tom Gordon came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and struck out Dye to start. Kreuter flied out to right before Sanchez whiffed to end the game. The Sox had won Opening Day with a 5-3 score over the Royals.
Hero of the Night is John Valentin. He tied the game with a home run in the third and knocked in the insurance run in the 9th to propel the team to victory.
The Good:
Jose Offerman was 4 for 5 with 2 runs scored and a stolen base.
Mike Stanley was 2 for 3 with a hit by pitch and an rbi.
Troy O'Leary was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.
Scott Hatteberg was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and an rbi.
Pedro Martinez pitched well with 6 innings of 2 run ball allowing 6 hits and a walk while striking out 9.
Derek Lowe allowed an unearned run in 2 innings.
Tom Gordon earned his first save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Darren Lewis was 0 for 5 with a strikeout.
Trot Nixon was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Nomar Garciaparra was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored.
Jeff Frye was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Now that's called getting the season started on the right foot. The Sox are looking to bounce back from their ignominious defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Indians last year and its going to take better pitching to do that. Jose Offerman will never replace Mo Vaughn but that was a pretty good debut as a leadoff hitter. Pedro wasn't that dominant but that could be first game rust more than it was ineffectiveness. Still, a win is a win and hopefully many more are on the way. After an off-day the Sox look to make it two in a row against the Royals when Bret Saberhagen makes his season debut against Jose Rosado at 8:05 PM Eastern Time at Kauffman Stadium.
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