The Sox wasted no time in getting on the board. Mookie Betts led off the game against Cole Hamels with a second pitch pop up to 3rd, but Pedroia silenced critics with a home run to left field to put Boston up 1-0. Hamels bounced back to strike out David Ortiz. Hanley Ramirez posted his first at-bat in a Red Sox uniform in ten years with a fly out to right field to end the inning. The Sox had struck first to take a 1-0 lead.
Buchholz began the bottom of the first by getting Ben Revere to fly out to centerfield. Odubel Herrera also flied out to Betts in center. The Sox should have been out of the inning when Chase Utley hit a squibber to Buchholz but he flubbed it and Utley reached on the error. :Luckily Ryan Howard hit a ground out into the shift to end the inning with the Sox still up 1-0.
Pablo Sandoval grounded out to second to lead off the second inning after sending his bat flying to short-stop the previous pitch. Shane Victorino made his return to Philadelphia where he led the Phills to the 2008 World Series championship and got a standing O. Shane drew a walk and advanced to second on a balk. Umpire Kirk Cousins felt that Hamels took his step too far to home plate before firing to first. Xander Bogaerts popped up to first and Victorino swiped third. Ryan Hanigan worked a walk to put runners at the corners....for Buchholz. Pitchers gotta hit in the National League I'm afraid. Clay worked the count full (a miracle in itself) and hit a hard liner, but it was right to Hamels who tossed to first for the out. At least he made contact. Buchholz struck out Carlos Ruiz to begin the bottom of the second, The shift was on for old friend Grady Sizemore and he grounded out to second. Cody Asche froze on a 3-2 curveball to end the inning with the Sox still ahead.
Mr. Mookie greeted Hamels with a bomb to left field to increase the lead to begin the top of the third. Pedroia grounded out to third and Ortiz popped up. Ramirez worked a walk but Sandoval looked at strike 3. Good news was Hamels was up to 64 pitches to end the inning with the Sox up 2-0.
Fred Galvis grounded out to second to begin the bottom of the third. Buchholz punched out Hamels (not literally though) and Revere lined out to Pedroia to end the inning.
Victorino whiffed to begin the top of the 4th before Bogaerts popped up to Sizemore. Hanigan ripped a single to left to extend the inning but the momentum stopped when Buchholz grounded out to end the inning but Hamels was up to 80 pitches. Buchholz whiffed Herrera to begin the bottom of the fourth and badly fooled Utley on a change-up for his 5th strikeout of the year. Sox broadcaster Don Orsillo called Clay "the man on a mission" and it jinxed him. Ryan Howard ended the no-hitter with a double to center and Ruiz walked. Luckily, Sizemore grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Sox offense woke up in the top of the 5th. Mr. Mookie led off with a strikeout but Pedroia clocked his second home run of the day to add to the lead. Ortiz whiffed but Ramirez joined the home run parade with his first solo shot of the year to ice the game. Sandoval whiffed badly but it was 4-0. Hamels had thrown 100 pitches in 5 innings, struck out six and gave up four home runs. Either they hit it out or not at all it seemed.
Staked to a four run lead in the bottom of the fifth, Buchholz struck out Asche and got Galvis to ground out to second. Pinch hitter Cesar Hernandez hit a rocket to right but Victorino made a leaping catch at the scoreboard to preserve the shut out.
That was it for Hamels as Luis Garcia took over for the top of the 6th. The hero Victorino greeted him with a full count walk. Bogaerts flied out to center but Hanigan advanced Victorino with a ground out. Buchholz did manage to hit it sharply on the ground but a nice pick by Galvis saved a run and that ended the inning. At least Clay was making contact, Jon Lester was an automatic strikeout. Ortiz flashed the leather with a line drive snare off the bat of Revere to begin the bottom of the 6th. Herrera and Utley both whiffed badly to end the inning. 6 innings, 1 hit, 8 strikeouts for Buchholz....shades of 2013.
Jeanmar Gomez relieved Garcia and Mr. Mookie led off the top of the 7th with a base hit in the hole at short. Pedroia followed with one in the same spot but Ortiz whiffed badly and Ramirez grounded into a double play to end the inning. Mike Napoli took over for Ortiz at first who had a miserable day at the plate. Napoli pitched in right away in the bottom of the 7th with a ground out off the bat of Howard. Ruiz got Philly's second hit of the day and Sizemore followed with a hit. Junichi Tazawa began warming up in the bullpen. Pedroia made an amazing play to snare a ground ball off the bat of Asche to get Sizemore at second, but the relay throw to first was too late. The Phills had runners at the corners and Robbie Ross Jr joined Taz in the bullpen. Buchholz ended his day with his 9th strikeout to end the inning. 7 innings, 3 hits, 9 K's, 0 runs....I'll take that every day.
Justin De Fratus replaced Gomez for the top of the 8th and got Sandoval to ground out to second. Victorino grounded out to third but Bogaerts worked a walk. Hanigan grounded out to short to end the inning. Juinichi Tazawa came on for the bottom of the 8th and got pinch hitter Andres Blanco to ground out to second. Revere popped up to left and Sandoval picked a line drive from Herrera to preserve the lead to end the inning. Allen Craig pinch hit for Tazawa as Jake Diekman took over for De Fratus. Craig singled through the hole at short and Mr. Mookie worked a four pitch walk. Pedroia whiffed but Napoli walked. Hanley Ramirez then cleared them all with a grand slam for his second home run of the day off the foul pole. That was it for Diekman as Cesar Jimenez replaced him. Sandoval struck out for the third time today and Victorino flied out to end the inning with the Sox ahead 8-0.
Tommy Layne came on for mop up duty in bottom of the 9th and got Utley to ground out to first to start. Howard lined out but Ruiz worked a walk. Jeff Francoeur pinch hit for Sizemore but grounded out to Sandoval to end the game. The Red Sox win opening day 8-0!
The Good:
Hero of the day is Hanley Ramirez. He was 2 for 4 with two runs scored, a walk and two homers, one of which was a grand slam.
Mookie Betts was 2 for 4 with a walk, 2 runs scored and a solo home run.
Dustin Pedroia saved a few runs in the field and went 3 for 5 at the plate with 2 solo home runs.
Clay Buchholz was outstanding. He tossed 7 innings of shut out ball, struck out 9 and allowed just three hits.
Mike Napoli worked a walk in his only at bat.
Allen Craig singled and scored in his only at bat.
Ryan Hanigan was 1 for 3 with a walk and helped Buchholz spin a beauty.
Junichi Tazawa worked a perfect 8th inning.
Tommy Layne pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
The Bad:
David Ortiz was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Pablo Sandoval was 0 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Shane Victorino was 0 for 3 but walked twice, stole a base and made a running catch at the wall.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 3 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
That was a good start. Great pitching and great hitting led to the win. Buchholz looked sharp and the offense was as formidable as it looked on paper in the off-season. Ortiz and Sandoval will have better days, that's for sure. Betts has no problem hitting inside balls, now let's see if he can have success when they start pitching him away. With Koji Uehara on the DL, it'll be interesting to see Edward Mujica as the closer when the situation comes up. After overcoming an April injury, he pitched very well the rest of the season in 2014. The Phillies rotation after this begins to go downhill, but then again so does Boston's. The next game will be Wednesday with Rick Porcello taking on Aaron Harang. So far the Sox are undefeated.
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