Many Boston Red Sox fans panicked after they got swept by the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend. Who knew it would be the defending American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays that the Sox needed to get their first win. The Sox beat up the Rays for 16 hits and 11 runs in a one sided rout. JD Martinez hit a 3 run home run, Xander Bogaerts hit a little league home run and Franchy Cordero drove in 2 runs. Nick Pivetta (1-0, 0.00) remained undefeated as a member of the Red Sox as he notched 5 shutout innings to preserve the win. The Sox bullpen got tagged in the top of the eighth but Adam Ottavino got out of a huge bases loaded jam with the score 7-2 at the time. The Sox poured it on from there and ran away with their first win 11-2 at Fenway Park..
Pivetta got the ball in the top of the first and Yoshi Tsutsugo grounded out to short to start. Austin Meadows grounded out to second but Randy Arozarena and Brandon Lowe drew back to back walks. Old pal Manny Margot struck out swinging to end the inning. Wacha got the ball in the bottom of the first and Kike Hernandez struck out swinging to start. Alex Verdugo also went down hacking but JD Martinez and Xander Bogaerts stroked back to back singles. Rafael Devers struck out swinging to end the inning.
Pivetta cruised in the top of the second as Joey Wendle flied out to right to start. Willy Adames walked but Kevin Kiermaier banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox struck first in the bottom of the second as Christian Vazquez dumped a base hit to right to start. Vazquez moved to second on the Marwin Gonzalez grounder to short but Hunter Renfroe flied out to center. Franchy Cordero notched his first rbi with a double off the centerfield wall to give the Sox the lead. Hernandez took strike three to end the inning with Boston's first lead of the season 1-0.
Pivetta kept the lead in the top of the third as Mike Zunino popped up to third to begin. Tsutsugo flied out to left and Meadows struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the third with Mike Brosseau in for Kiermaier who apparently hurt his leg. Verdugo doubled off the Monster to start and Martinez drew a walk, but Bogaerts banged into a double play. Devers grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Rays almost struck back in the top of the fourth as Arozarena singled to right to start. Lowe flied out to right but a wild pitch moved Arozarena to second. Margot took strike three and Wendle flied out to left to end the inning. The Sox rallied in the bottom of the fourth when Vazquez singled to left to start. Gonzalez singled to center and a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Renfroe then hit a rocket that Arozarena made one of the best catches ever to grab, but Vazquez scored to increase the lead. Gonzalez took third on the out and scored on the Cordero ground out to increase the lead. Hernandez earned the hat trick with a swinging strikeout to end the inning but the Sox led 3-0.
The Rays tried to rally in the top of the fifth as Adames doubled off the Monster to start. Brosseau flied out to left but Zunino walked. Pivetta struck out Tsutsugo swinging but a passed ball moved both runners over. With a full count and the pressure on, Pivetta got Meadows to fly out to center to end the inning. Good work by Pivetta to work his way out of trouble in 5 shutout innings.
The Sox iced the game in the bottom of the fifth although Verdugo flied out to left to start. Martinez walked and Bogaerts hit a rocket into right field. Martinez came around third and the ball skipped to Zunino. Martinez was safe and Zunino airmailed the throw to third and Bogaerts came around to score an unofficial inside the park home run (double and an error). Devers struck out swinging and Vazquez grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-0.
Matt Andriese came in for the top of the sixth and Arozarena struck out swinging to start. Lowe and Margot struck back to back singles but Wendle banged into a double play to end the inning. The Sox got some more runs in the bottom of the sixth against old buddy Chris Mazza. Gonzalez walked and Renfroe singled to center, but Cordero took strike three. Rather than earn the golden sombrero, Hernandez stepped in with an rbi double to score Gonzalez. Verdugo scored Renfroe with a sac fly but Martinez flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 7-0.
Andriese cruised in the top of the seventh as Adames grounded out to short to start. Brosseau lined out to center and Zunino grounded out to short to end the inning. Bogaerts singled to right to start the bottom of the seventh but Devers flied out to left. Vazquez banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Rays rallied in the top of the seventh as Tsutsugo singled to left. Meadows went down hacking but Arozarena singled to center. Lowe singled to left to load the bases and that was it for Andriese. Darwinzon Hernandez poured gas on the fire as he walked Margot to score Tsutsugo. Yandy Diaz pinch hit for Wendle and walked home Arozarena with another run. Thankfully Darwinzon struck out Adames swinging and Sox manager Alex Cora couldn't pull him fast enough. Adam Ottavino came in and froze Brosseau for strike three to end the inning with the Rays still down 7-2.
The Sox left no doubt in the bottom of the eighth although Gonzalez took strike three to start. Renfroe blooped a single to shallow right and Cordero lined a base hit to left, but Hernandez flied out to right. Verdugo joined the fun with an rbi double to score Renfroe and the rejuvenated Martinez crushed a 3 run bomb to wrap up the scoring. Old friend Jeffrey Springs came in and Bogaerts singled to center but Devers flied out to center to end the inning with the Sox ahead 11-2.
Phillips Valdez came in to close out the top of the ninth and Joseph Odom pinch hit for Zunino. Odom grounded back to the mound, Tsutsugo grounded out to third and Meadows grounded out to first to end the game. The Sox had won their first game of the season 11-2.
Sox win
Hero Pivetta
Hero of the Night is Nick Pivetta. With everyone contributing on offense, his 5 shutout innings were badly needed after the last three days.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
JD Martinez was 2 for 3 with 2 walks, a 3 run homer and 2 runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 4 for 5 with an rbi and a run scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.
Marwin Gonzalez was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
Hunter Renfroe was 2 for 3 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Franchy Cordero was 2 for 4 with 2 rbis and a run scored.
Adam Ottavino struck out the only man he faced.
Phillips Valdez tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts.
Matt Andriese was charged with 2 runs in 2 1/3 innings.
Darwinzon Hernandez walked 2 of the 3 men he faced.
The Ugly:
Kike Hernandez was just 1 for 5 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but the hit was an rbi double.
Final Thoughts:
Reports of the Red Sox demise have been greatly exaggerated. Now that the Sox have shown what its like to score runs, there should be no excuse for games like this to be more frequent. JD Martinez has his precious in game video back so he's back to where he was in 2019. Everyone pitched in for this one except Devers but he may turn it around at some point as well. For one day at least, Cordero made Sox fans forget about Andrew Benintendi although there's nothing Verdugo, Hernandez or Gonzalez can do to replace Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr. Pivetta looked good in his 5 innings and the best part was him fighting out of trouble instead of crumbling. All in all if it wasn't for the cruddy offense, everyone but Garrett Richards has looked good so far. Get Tanner Houck and Nathan Eovaldi better run support and the Sox could easily be 3-1 instead of 1-3. What were the Rays thinking by trading for Mazza and Springs? Hopefully the Sox can ride this momentum tomorrow night when Martin Perez makes his season debut against Tampa's best pitcher, Tyler Glasnow. The game begins at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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