Boyd got the ball in the top of the first and Omar Moreno grounded back to the mound to start. Willie Randolph walked and took second on a passed ball on a strikeout by Don Mattingly. Dave Winfield flied out to left to end the inning. 46 year old Phil Niekro took the ball in the bottom of the first and Wade Boggs hit a chopper off the glove of Niekro up the middle for a hit. Dwight Evans banged into a double play and Jim Rice grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Yankees struck first in the top of the second although Don Baylor grounded out to third to start. Ken Griffey took strike three but Mike Pagliarulo walked. Butch Wynegar smacked a double down the right field line that scored Pagliarulo to put the Yankees on top. Bob Meachum singled in the hole at second to score Wynegar with another run. Moreno grounded out to short to end the inning but the Yankees were up 2-0.
The Sox instantly fought back in the bottom of the second as Mike Easler lined a high fastball into right for a hit to start. Tony Armas clobbered his first home run of the season into the screen in left to tie the game. Bill Buckner drew a walk and Rich Gedman hit a perfect double play ball but Meachum fell down after Buckner was forced. Marty Barrett lined out to right and Jackie Gutierrez lined out softly to Meachum to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Boyd settled down in the top of the third as Randolph flied out to right to start. Mattingly popped up to Boggs in foul territory but Winfield walked. Griffey whiffed on a breaking ball to end the inning. The Sox took advantage of a wild Niekro to take the lead in the bottom of the third although Boggs flied out to left to start. Evans doubled past Winfield in right before Rice drew a walk. Easler walked to load the bases but Armas was rung up for strike three. Buckner walked to score Evans to give the Sox the lead and Gedman walked to score Rice with another run. Barrett's bat went flying as he struck out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-2.
Griffey singled up the middle to start the top of the fourth but Pagliarulo lined out to Buckner, who doubled off Ken for the double play. Wynegar walked but Meachum whiffed badly to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the fourth although Gutierrez grounded out to third to start. Boggs grounded out to short but Evans clobbered his first homer of the year onto Landsdowne Street to increase the lead. Rice went down swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-2.
Moreno dumped a base hit in front of Armas to start the top of the fifth but was erased on the force by Randolph. Mattingly flied out to deep left and Randolph chased strike three to end the inning. Bob Shirley took over for the bottom of the fifth and the Sox struck again. Easler stuck his bat out and singled up the middle to start but Armas popped up to second. Buckner dropped a base hit to left and Gedman drove a base hit to right. Easler came around to score but Buckner got caught in a rundown coming around third. Barrett grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-2
Gedman muffed a pop up by Baylor in foul territory to start the top of the sixth and Don made him pay with a base hit to left. Griffey lined out to right and Pagliarulo banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox tacked it on in the bottom of the sixth as Gutierrez dropped a base hit to center to start. Boggs whiffed but Gutierrez stole second on the play. Yankees manager Yogi Berra brought in Joe Cowley to pitch and Evans drew a walk. Rice lit up the crowd with a 3 run bomb to dead center to increase the lead. Easler and Armas both grounded out to second to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-2.
Buckner made a great diving stab of a Wynegar grounder and flipped to Boyd for the out to start the bottom of the seventh. The fired up Boyd got Meacham and Moreno to pop up to short to end the inning. That was it for Boyd who delivered the goods with 7 innings of 2 run ball.
The Sox went quietly in the bottom of the seventh as Buckner grounded out to first to start. Gedman flied out to left and Barrett grounded out to third to end the inning.
Bob Stanley came in to pitch the top of the eighth and the Yankees beat the ball in the dirt. Randolph grounded back to the mound, Mattingly grounded out to first and Winfield grounded out to short to end the inning. Dale Murray came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and it was their turn to beat the ball in the dirt. Gutierrez grounded out to short, Boggs also grounded out to short and Evans grounded out to second to end the inning.
Stanley returned for the top of the ninth and Baylor grounded out to third to start. Griffey whiffed badly but Pagliarulo doubled off the Monster in left. Wynegar grounded out to second to end the game. The Sox had won Opening Day by a score of 9-2.
Hero of the Night is Jim Rice. He outscored the Yankees by himself with a 3 run homer and by scoring 2 runs
The Good:
Dwight Evans was 2 for 4 with 3 runs scored, a walk and a home run.
Mike Easler was 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Bill Buckner was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and an rbi.
Rich Gedman was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 rbis.
Oil Can Boyd got the win with 7 innings of 2 run ball. He walked 4 and struck out 5.
Bob Stanley tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Marty Barrett was 0 for 4.
The Ugly:
Wade Boggs was just 1 for 5 with a strikeout.
Tony Armas was just 1 for 4 but the one hit was a 2 run homer.
Jackie Gutierrez was just 1 for 4 but stole a base and scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
Its always fun to win on Opening Day and start the season on a high note. New Red Sox manager John McNamara got his first win and hopefully the first of at least 95-100. Its wishful thinking to hope Boston's pitching can improve from last year but it could happen. The Sox have a young corps in Bruce Hurst, Roger Clemens and Boyd so hopefully they can be a trio of terror this season. If the Sox offense can match last year they'll be just fine this season as well. As for this game, good to see Boyd throw a good game and the offense made mincemeat out of the Yankees pitching. The Yankees finished a game better than the Sox last year so it would be nice for the Sox to beat them up this year. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox and Yankees go at it again Wednesday afternoon. Bruce Hurst makes his season debut against Ed Whitson at 1:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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