Before the game the Boston Red Sox made a roster move. Liam Hendriks was placed on the injured list with an inflamed elbow and Cooper Criswell was brought up to take his place. That didn't take long, did it?
As for the game, that's how you start the season. The new look Red Sox upgraded their pitching this off-season but the offense, specifically one guy stepped up big on Opening Day. Garrett Crochet made his Sox debut by lasting 5 innings and holding the 2023 World Series Champion Texas Rangers to 2 runs. The Rangers struck first with a run against Crochet but the Sox answered with a Ceddanne Rafaels rbi off Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi. The Rangers got another run but Wilyer Abreu crushed his first home run of the season to tie the game. In the top of the ninth, Abreu cracked a three run bomb off Lucas Jackson to put the Sox ahead. Once Crochet left the game, the Sox bullpen tossed four scoreless innings. Aroldis Chapman (1-0, 0.00 ERA) got the win while Justin Slaten slammed the door in the ninth for his first save of the season. The Sox started the 2025 season in style with a 5-2 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
Old pal Nathan Eovaldi got the ball to start the top of the first and Jarren Duran grounded out to first to start. Rafael Devers went down hacking and Alex Bregman made his Red Sox debut by grounding out to third to end the inning. Garrett Crochet made his Sox debut in the bottom of the first and struck out Marcus Semien on a nasty cutter to start. Corey Seager flied out to left but Wyatt Langford drew a 9 pitch walk. Adolis Garcia flied out to right to end the inning.
Eovaldi mowed them down in the top of the second as Triston Casas struck out swinging to start. Trevor Story went down hacking and Kristian Campbell made his ML debut with a swinging strikeout to end the inning. The Rangers struck first in the bottom of the second as Jake Burger walked to start. Josh Jung got a base hit to right and old pal Kevin Pillar ripped a base hit to center to score Burger. Kyle Higashioka popped up to third, Josh Smith took strike three and Semien grounded out to second to end the inning with the Rangers up 1-0. That could have gone a lot worse.
The Sox fought back in the top of the third as Wilyer Abreu got a base hit to right to start. Connor Wong got a base hit up the middle to move Abreu to third. Ceddanne Rafaela beat out a double play ball to score Abreu with the tying run. Duran lined out to right and Devers struck out swinging again to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Seager struck out swinging to begin the bottom of the third before Langford flied out to center. Garcia grounded out to second to end the inning.
Bregman flied out to center to start the top of the fourth before Casas grounded out to first. Story took strike three to end the inning. The Rangers took command in the bottom of the fourth as Burger grounded out to short to start. Jung grounded out to second but Pillar got a base hit to center. Higashioka doubled into the gap in center to score Pillar with the go-ahead run, but Smith struck out swinging to end the inning with Texas ahead 2-1.
The Sox clawed back in the top of the fifth although Campbell grounded out to third to start. Abreu smashed his first home run of the season to deep right to tie the game, but Wong lined out to left. Rafaela flied out to center to end the inning with the game tied 2-2.
Semien singled to left to open the bottom of the fifth but Seager banged into a double play. Langford grounded out to third to end the inning. As usual, Sox manager Alex Cora pulls a guy after just 5 innings as Crochet tossed 88 pitches and allowed 2 runs in his Sox debut. He allowed 5 hits and 2 walks as well.
Duran struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth before Devers earned a hat trick by striking out swinging. Bregman also struck out swinging to end the inning. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the sixth and Garcia flied out to right to start. Burger flied out to center but Jung singled to center. Pillar flied out to end the inning.
The Sox blew a rally in the top of the seventh with Robert Garcia now on the mound. Casas grounded out to short to start before Story lined out to center. Campbell walked and took second on a balk before Abreu drew a walk. Old pal Chris Martin came in and struck out Wong swinging to end the inning. Higashioka flied out to right to start the bottom of the seventh before Smith grounded out to third. Semien struck out swinging to end the inning.
Rafaela struck out swinging to open the top of the eighth but Duran got a base hit to right. Duran swiped second then took third on the grounder to first by Devers. Bregman flied out to right to end the threat and the inning. Aroldis Chapman made his Sox debut in the bottom of the eighth and struck out Seager swinging. Langford got a base hit to right but Garcia flied out to center. Burger forced Langford at second to end the inning.
Luke Jackson came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Casas looked at strike three right down the middle to start. Story drew a 9 pitch walk and proceeded to steal second base. Campbell got his first big league hit with a bloop off the third baseman to put runners at the corners. David Hamilton pinch ran for Campbell and Abreu belted a three run blast to right to put the Sox on top. That was it for Jackson as Shawn Armstrong came in to pitch to Wong. Wong lined out to second and Rafaela struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox ahead 5-2.
Justin Slaten came in to close out the game in the bottom of the ninth inning and Jung struck out swinging to start. Joc Pederson pinch hit for Pillar and lined out to center before Higashioka also flied out to center to end the game. The Sox had won on Opening Day 5-2.
Hero of The Night is Wilyer Abreu. His two home runs provided all the offense the Sox needed to win the game.
The Good:
Kristian Campbell was 1 for 3 with a walk.
David Hamilton scored a run as a pinch runner.
Garrett Crochet held the Rangers to just 2 runs in 5 innings of work. He allowed 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4.
Garrett Whitlock tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Aroldis Chapman got the win with a scoreless eighth inning.
Justin Slaten got his first save of the year with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Alex Bregman was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Triston Casas was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but stole a base.
Trevor Story was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked, stole a base and scored a run.
Connor Wong was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but drove in a run.
Final Thoughts:
Great start to the season but once again Alex Cora plays it safe by yanking Crochet after just 5 innings. I doubt his arm is going to fall off if he throws 90 pitches in his first start but the Sox won the game. Still, this is the exact reason the Sox fell apart in the second half two of the last four seasons, bullpen overuse. Still, Abreu had a damn good game and so did the bullpen. Aroldis Chapman looked good and with Liam Hendriks down again, they're going to need him now. Good to see the Sox go back to their running offense they had last year with some steals by Duran and Story. That was one of the reasons they had a little bit of a surge last May and June, hopefully they can keep it up all season. Campbell got his first hit and walk so hopefully he's off and running as well. All in all it was a good win against a team that won it all just two years ago. The Sox look to make it two in a row against the Rangers tomorrow night when Tanner Houck makes his season debut against Jack Leiter of Texas. The game begins at 8:05 PM Eastern time at Globe Life Field.
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