Jacoby Ellsbury led the season off in the top of the first against CC Sabbathia and popped up to Eduardo Nunez. Shane Victorino made his Sox debut by striking out. Dustin Pedroia got the first hit of the season with a single to center. Mike Napoli made his Red Sox debut by striking out as well to end the inning. Jon Lester (1-0) got the ball in the bottom of the first inning. Brett Gardner struck out swinging on 4 pitches. Eduardo Nunez grounded out to Jose Iglesias at short. Robinson Cano struck out but a passed ball by Jarrod Saltlamacchia allowed Cano to reach first. Old pal Kevin Youkilis came to bat and flied out to right to end the inning.
Will Middlebrooks led off the top of the second inning with a ground out to third. Saltalamacchia worked a walk and Jonny Gomes made his Red Sox debut by lining one off the glove of Lance Nix for a single. Jackie Bradley Jr made his Red Sox and Major League debut by walking to load the bases. Jose Iglesias hit one in the hole at short for his first hit of the season, driving in Saltalamacchia with the season's first run. Ellsbury forced Gomes at home on a force. Victorino got his first hit of the season with a single that scored both JBJ and Iglesias to give the Sox a 3-0 lead. Pedroia singled home Ellsbury to make it 4-0. Napoli popped up to center to end the inning. The Sox had struck to take a 4-0 lead.
Vernon Wells led off the bottom of the second with a ground out. Ben Fransisco walked and Ichiro Suzuki beat out a double play ball to keep the inning alive. Nix struck out looking to end the inning.
Middlebrooks led off the top of the third inning with a strikeout. Saltalamacchia looked at strike 3 and Gomes popped up to Nunez to end the inning. Fransisco Cervelli flied out to center to begin the bottom of the third. Gardner legged out an infield single but Lester froze Nunez on the outside corner for strike 3. A wild pitch by Lester moved Gardner to second but JBJ flashed the leather to rob Cano of a run scoring double to end the inning.
JBJ struck out to open the top of fourth but Iglesias caught the Yankees asleep with a bunt single. Ellsbury singled to left and Victorino moved both runners over with a ground-out. Pedroia grounded out to end the inning. Lester ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth. Youkilis led off with a double down the left field line and Wells walked. Fransisco popped up but Ichiro singled to load the bases. Nix looked at strike three but Cervelli brought in 2 runs with a single to cut the lead 4-2. Gardner flied out but the Yankees were on the board.
Napoli grounded out to second to begin the top of the fifth. Middlebrooks popped up to Youk but Saltalamacchia hit one to the wall for a double. Yankees manager Joe Girardi had Gomes intentionally walked to get to Bradley Jr as David Phelps began warming in the bullpen. JBJ worked a walk to load the bases hut Iglesias popped up to end the inning. Nunez whiffed to start the bottom of the fifth but Cano lashed a single to right once the story was over. Youk flied out as YES announcer Michael Kay brought up how Bobby Valentine's criticism of Youk angered Pedroia which led to Bobby getting no respect in the clubhouse. Thanks for drudging that up Michael! Wells looked at strike 3 to end the inning. It wasn't pretty for Lester but he put the team in position to win, he just didn't last very long.
David Phelps came on to pitch the top of the 6th for the Yankees. Ellsbury greeted him with a leadoff triple but Victorino stranded him with a groundout. Ellsbury was thrown out at home on the force by Pedroia and Napoli popped up to end the inning. Lester was out of the game and in was Koji Uehara as Michael Kay says this was their best signing of the off-season. Travis Haffner pinch hit for Fransisco and popped up to Middlebrooks, as did Ichiro. Nix popped up to end the inning.
Lyle Overbay took over at first and Youk moved to third in the top of the seventh. Middlebrooks and Saltalamacchia worked back to back walks. Gomes flied out to right but Middlebrooks advanced to third. Yankees manager Joe Girardi brought in lefty Boone Logan to face JBJ. Bradley drove in Middlebrooks with a force out at first to make it 5-2. Iglesias legged out an infield single to load the bases. Ellsbury popped up to end the inning. Andrew Miller took the mound in the bottom of the seventh inning. Cervelli and Gardner worked back to back walks but Miller blew away Nunez for the first out. Cano whiffed as well and Sox manager John Farrell pulled Miller for Andrew Bailey, last year's closer now set-up man. Bailey whiffed Youkilis to end the inning.
Shawn Kelley was brought in to pitch the top of the eighth. Victorino and Pedroia grounded out then Napoli struck out to end the inning. Junichi Tazawa came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth. Wells flied out to right but Haffner singled. Ichiro grounded into a double play to end the inning.
The Sox piled it on in the top of the ninth against Joba Chamberlain. Middlebrooks whiffed but Saltalamacchia walked. Gomes singled and JBJ walked to load the bases. Iglesias whiffed but the Sox caught the Yankees defense asleep. Cano bobbled the ground ball by Ellsbury and Saltalamacchia scored, then Gomes scored as Cano's throw home was late. Just like that it was 7-2. Victorino singled home JBJ to make it 8-2 and chase Chamberlain. The fans poured out of Yankee Stadium like the cowards they are as Cody Eppley came in to face Pedroia. A wild pitch moved both runners but Pedroia grounded out to end the inning. Sox closer Joel Hanrahan made his season debut with a 6 run lead in the ninth for some reason. Overbay flied out and Cervelli grounded out. Gardner popped up to third to end the game. The Sox had won 8-2.
Hero of the Night is a tough one. I'll go with Jacoby Ellsbury. He was 3 for 6 with a run scored and 2 rbi's.
The Good:
Shane Victorino was 2 for 6 with 3 rbi's.
Dustin Pedroia was 2 for 6 with an rbi.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia was 1 for 2 with 3 walks and a run scored.
Jonny Gomes was 2 for 4 with a walk and run scored.
Jose Iglesias was 3 for 5 with an rbi.
Jon Lester got the win while only lasting 5 innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs while striking out 7.
Koji Uehara pitched a scoreless 6th inning.
Andrew Miller got two of the four men he faced.
Andrew Bailey got the final out of the 7th inning.
Junichi Tazawa pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Joel Hanrahan pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
Mike Napoli was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Will Middlebrooks was 0 for 4 but walked and scored a run.
Jackie Bradley Jr was 0 for 2 with 3 walks, an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Final Thoughts:
Well that was a good start to the season. This is probably the first season since 2005 that the Sox don't have high hopes or pressure to win it all. Maybe the Sox will ride that momentum to a winning season? Their talent level isn't what it was in years past, but for one day everything worked out. Lester wasn't great but the bullpen is pretty stacked with Bailey in the set up role, Hanrahan closing and Uehara and Tazawa the set up guys. After an off-day, Clay Buchholz matches up against Hiroki Kuroda.
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