Eovaldi got the ball in the top of the first inning and Cedric Mullins hit an accidental swinging bunt single to third to start. Trey Mancini returned from beating cancer to hit into a double play. Anthony Santander popped up to left to end the inning. John Means got the ball for the bottom of the first and Kike Hernandez made his Red Sox debut by slapping a single to right. Alex Verdugo popped up to right and Hernandez damn near rolled his ankle on a pickoff throw. Baltimore challenged the call and sure enough, Hernandez was called out. Martinez lined out to the left field warning track to end the inning.
Ryan Mountcastle led off the top of the second by grounding out to second to begin. Rio Ruiz worked a walk on a questionable call on the corner so Eovaldi punched out Austin Hays on a high fast ball. Maikel Franco hit a little roller to short but Devers walked in front of Bogaerts only to drop the ball for a "single". Freddy Galvis flied out to a running Verdugo to end the inning. Franco booted a grounder by Xander Bogaerts for an error to start the bottom of the second. Bogaerts hugged Mancini as a welcome back but Devers popped up to a sliding Ruiz. Hunter Renfroe made his Sox debut by striking out swinging and Marwin Gonzalez made his Sox debut by grounding out to short to end the inning.
Pedro Severino singled to right to start the top of the third but Mullins flied out to right. Mancini banged into a double play to end the inning. Christian Vazquez began the bottom of the third by popping up to first. Bobby Dalbec struck out swinging and Hernandez flied out to center to end the inning.
Santander grounded out to short to start the top of the fourth and Eovaldi blew away Mountcastle with a high fastball. Ruiz hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Verdugo popped up to third in foul territory to start. Martinez popped up to left and Bogaerts took strike three on the outside corner to end the inning.
Hays whiffed on a high fastball to start the top of the fifth and Franco popped up to a running Hernandez. Galvis grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Means cruised in the bottom of the fifth as Devers grounded out to first to start. Renfroe whiffed again and Gonzalez popped up to a running Ruiz to end the inning.
The O's struck first in the top of the sixth as Severino beat out an infield single to short to start. Eovaldi blew away Mullins and Sox manager Alex Cora decided to pull him. Eovaldi threw 89 pitches and allowed 4 hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings.
Matt Andriese came in and walked Mancini and Hernandez bobbled a double play ball by Santander for an error to load the bases.. Mountcastle doubled off the Monster to score Severino and Mancini to ice the game. Ruiz took strike three and Hays flied out to right to end the inning but the O's were up 2-0.
Means continued his dominance in the bottom of the sixth as Vazquez popped up to right to start. Dalbec flied out to the left field wall and Hernandez popped up to second to end the inning. The Sox hadnt had a hit since the first batter of the game.
Andriese returned for the top of the seventh and Franco grounded out to short to start. Galvis lined out to a running Gonzalez and Severino went down hacking to end the inning. Ruiz robbed Verdugo of a base hit to start the bottom of the seventh and Means blew away Martinez with a straight 93 mph fastball down the middle. Bogaerts popped up to center to end the inning. Means had retired 18 in a row.
Josh Taylor came in to get pounded in the top of the eighth and Mullins effortlessly singled to right. Mancini singled off the box seats along the left field and Santander singled to right to score Mullins. Renfroe threw to Devers who caught Mancini in a rundown but ended up tagging out Santander instead. That was it for Taylor as Austin Brice came in and got Mountcastle to ground out to third. Ruiz grounded out to third to end the inning with the O's up 3-0.
Tanner Scott came in for the bottom of the eighth and immediately walked Devers to start. Renfroe earned the hat trick with a swinging strikeout and Gonzalez lined out out to center. Vazquez drew a walk but Dalbec watched strike three right down the middle to end the inning.
Hiro Sawamura made his ML debut in the top of the ninth and struck out Hays swinging to start. Franco grounded out to third but Verdugo badly mishandled a "double" by Galvis. Severino grounded out to first to end the inning. Nice debut by Sawamura.
Ramon Urias took over for Franco with Cesar Valdez on the mound to close out the bottom of the ninth. Hernandez whiffed and Verdugo grounded out to first, but Martinez got the first hit since the first batter of the game with a double to left. Martinez took third on a passed ball but Santander made a running grab off a Bogaerts line drive to end the game. The O's had won it 3-0
O's win
Jackass of the Night is Kike Hernandez. Not only did he get picked off in the first inning but his error in the sixth led the way for the O's to take command of the game.
The Good:
One of the rare times the losing pitcher is on the Good list but Nathan Eovaldi pitched well in his debut. He went 5 1/3 innings and was charged with a run. He allowed just 4 hits and a walk.
Austin Brice got the final two outs of the eighth inning.
Hiro Sawamura pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Alex Verdugo was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Xander Bogaerts was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Hunter Renfroe was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Marwin Gonzalez was 0 for 3.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Matt Andriese allowed an inherited runner to score and one of his own in 1 2/3 innings.
Josh Taylor allowed a run in 1/3 of an inning.
The Ugly:
JD Martinez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Rafael Devers was 0 for 2 with bad plays on defense, but walked.
Christian Vazquez was 0 for 2 but walked.
Final Thoughts:
New year, same old Red Sox. They couldn't do anything on offense when they fell behind and returning manager Alex Cora pulled Eovaldi way too early. Eovaldi threw 89 pitched and the bullpen faltered. Meanwhile the O's let Means go a full 7, pitch count be damned. It was a bad day all around as Devers, Verdugo and Hernandez all made errors or boneheaded plays, Hunter Renfroe couldn't hit a ball off a tee and Bobby Dalbec choked with the game on the line. Apart from Eovaldi and Sawamura, there was absolutely nothing to like about the Sox today. With Matt Barnes out with Covid, Cora is going to have to go to his bullpen often to see who can get guys out. Sawamura looked pretty good but everyone else including Adam Ottavino is a crap shot. Then there's the offense that probably wasn't help by the cold temperature. It was actually colder today than it was for the New England Patriots game against the Buffalo Bills on December 28th. The Sox played like it as Hernandez and Martinez were the only ones to get hits and not a single player reached third base. Now this is no time to panic since its only the first game of the year, but the bullpen was always going to be an issue. The good news is after Means, the O's don't have much else pitching wise so more than likely the Sox are going to be able to score the next few games. Tanner Houck makes his season debut tomorrow against Matt Harvey of the Orioles. The game begins at 1:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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