Meche got the ball in the top of the first and Julio Lugo made his Red Sox debut leading off by striking out swinging. Kevin Youkilis dropped a base hit to right for the first hit of the season and David Ortiz doubled him home to put the Sox up 3 batters into the game. Manny Ramirez flied out to deep center before JD Drew made his Red Sox debut by drawing a walk. Mike Lowell struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
Schilling got lit up right off the bat in the top of the first as David DeJesus flied out to right to start. Mark Grudzielanek stroked a high fastball to left for a hit before Mark Teahen hit a splitter up the middle for another hit. Mike Sweeney singled over the head of Dustin Pedroia to load the bases. Alex Gordon made his major league debut by striking out on a splitter in the dirt. Ryan Shealy drew a full count walk to tie the game. Ross Gload popped up to center to end the inning but the game was tied 1-1.
Jason Varitek led off the top of the second by popping up to second to start. Coco Crisp grounded out to second and Dustin Pedroia lined a base hit to left...but made a rookie mistake by getting thrown out at second trying to stretch to end the inning. The Royals struck again in the bottom of the second although John Buck grounded out to short to start. Former Sox catcher Tony Pena's son Tony Jr tripled off the left field wall but Curt came back to freeze Dejesus. Grudzielanek singled home Pena Jr to give the Royals the lead. Teahen whiffed to end the inning but the Royals were up 2-1.
The Sox offense was done for the night as Lugo led off the top of the third by watching strike three go by. Youkilis flied out to right and Ortiz grounded out to first to end the inning. Schilling settled down in the bottom of the third as Sweeney popped up to center to start. Gordon took strike three and Shealy grounded out to third to end the inning.
Ramirez led off the top of the fourth by grounding out to third. ESPN showed the replay of George Brett's gold medal sprint out of the dugout after the "pine tar" incident and Drew got so excited that he got a base hit to right. Lowell forced Drew at second and Varitek watched strike three go by to end the inning. The Royals iced the game in the bottom of the fourth although Gload grounded out to second to begin. Buck doubled to left and Pena Jr drew a walk, but Dejesus flied out to left. Grudzielanek added the insurance runs by doubling over the head of Drew for another 2 runs. Teahen singled up the middle to score Grudzielanek and put the game out of reach. Sweeney whiffed to end the inning and Schilling was done for the day. The 40 year old Curt lasted just 4 innings and allowed 5 runs, not his shining day.
Meche continued to cruise in the top of the fifth inning as Crisp was rung up on a full count strike three to start. Pena Jr made a great play to Pedroia of a base hit before Lugo was rung up on a high curve by the notorious Tim Tschida to end the inning. Javier Lopez came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and plunked Gordon to start. Shealy grounded into a double play and Gload grounded out to first to end the inning.
Youkilis hit a hard grounder to third and Gordon threw the ball away but the alert Shealy threw out Youkilis at second. ESPN analyst Jon Miller said it wasn't a smart thing to do with Ortiz, Ramirez and Drew coming up and sure enough, Ortiz was hit on the left foot. Ramirez banged into a double play to end the inning anyway.
Hideki Okajima's major league debut started auspiciously as the first pitch he threw was hit 5 million feet into the Gulf of Mexico for a home run by Buck to increase the lead. Okajima recovered to get Pena Jr to strike out swinging and Dejeus to fly out to the centerfield warning track. Grudzielanek grounded out to third to end the inning with the Royals ahead 6-1.
Meche dominated in the top of the seventh as Drew grounded out to first to start. Lowell flied out to left and Varitek grounded out to short to end the inning. Okajima returned for the bottom of the seventh and Teahen whiffed on a high fastball to start. Sweeney stroked a base hit to left then moved to second on the grounder by Gordon. That was it for Okajima who looked good after the first pitch and Brendan Donnelly was brought in. Donnelly made his Sox debut by punching out Shealy swinging to end the inning.
Meche returned for the top of the eighth and Crisp grounded out to first to start. Pedroia dropped a base hit to center to chase Meche after 7 1/3 brilliant innings. Joel Peralta came in and Lugo singled up the middle, but Youkilis whiffed to effectively end the game. Ortiz waived at strike three down and in to end the inning. Joel Pineiro made his Sox debut in the bottom of the eighth by allowing a single off the first base bag by Gload to start. Buck popped up to short but Pena Jr hit another triple off the left field wall to increase the lead. Sox manager Terry Francona came out to argue that Lowell made the tag but New York Yankees personal umpire Tschida told him to get lost. Francona did take Pineiro out and bring in lefty JC Romero. Dejesus grounded out to first and Grudzielanek flied out to center to end the inning with the Royals leading 7-1.
Peralta returned for the top of the ninth and Manny took strike three to start. Wily Mo Pena pinch hit for Drew only to strike out swinging but Lowell extended the torture by doubling down the left field line. Varitek flied out to right to end the game. The Royals had defeated the Sox on Opening Day 7-1.
Jackass of the Night is Curt Schilling. He lasted just 4 innings and gave up 5 runs to take the loss. He allowed 8 hits and 2 walks.
The Good:
Kevin Youkilis was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
David Ortiz was 1 for 3 with an rbi and a hit by pitch.
JD Drew was 1 for 2 with a walk.
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 3.
Javier Lopez tossed a scoreless 5th inning.
Brendan Donnelly struck out the only man he faced.
JC Romero retired the last 2 hitters he faced.
The Bad:
Manny Ramirez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Wily Mo Pena struck out as a pinch hitter.
Jason Varitek was 0 for 4 with a strikeout
Coco Crisp was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Joel Pineiro allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
Julio Lugo was just 1 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Mike Lowell was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hideki Okajima allowed a home run on the first pitch in 1 2/3 total innings.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox seem to have a habit of losing Opening Day only to go on to have a successful season so let's hope the tradition continues. Today was a bad day all around as Schilling got beat up, the offense only scored a single run and Okajima got tagged on the first pitch he threw. The Royals aren't very good and the Sox have to win some of these road games early if they want to get ahead of the New York Yankees early. Still, its only one game and better to lose the first one than to lose the last one at the end of the season. The Sox ran themselves into outs but I'm sure that'll be addressed and corrected as the season goes on. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox look to rebound Wednesday night against the Royals. Josh Beckett makes his season debut opposite Odalis Perez at 8:10 PM Eastern time at Kauffman Stadium.
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