The result may not have been to the liking of Red Sox fans, but yesterday's home opener at Fenway Park did not lack for drama, excitement, or emotion.
The pre-game ceremonies were highlighted by a surprise singer of the National Anthem, David Ortiz' 15-year old daughter Alex, who belted out the Star Spangled Banner with the poise and power of a seasoned veteran vocalist. She really nailed it, and the best part was that the proud Papi had no idea his daughter would be doing the honors until he saw her on the field. Ortiz was literally moved to tears during the rendition and it was a beautiful moment to commemorate the final home opener of his stellar career.
You also had two of Boston's greatest sports legends throwing out the first pitch in Bill Russell and number four, Bobby Orr, and you couldn't have asked for a better start that did in fact spill over into the first inning for the Red Sox, who scored three runs including an RBI single by Ortiz who blasted a line drive single off the wall in left to score Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts.
With David Price making his first Fenway start, it looked like this could be a Sox runaway, but in fact the two biggest acquisitions made in the off-season by new head of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski faltered in their first home game. First, it was Price, who ran into big trouble in the third inning, giving up five runs, all earned, with the big blow a two-run homer by Mark Trumbo that gave Baltimore a 5-3 lead. But the Sox did battle back, and this was a see-saw affair all the way through, the game tied at six going into the eighth. Koji Uehara pitched a perfect eighth for the Red Sox while the Orioles bullpen was equally stingy, especially Mychal Givens, a converted shortstop who throws in the high nineties with a rising fastball that tied up Sox batters and looked virtually un-hittable. Givens pitched one and a third innings and struck out four. So the game went to the ninth and I've said this before, but I can't stand it when closers are called into tie games to preserve a lead rather than nail down a save. And it was that other Dombrowski big gun, closer Craig Kimbrel, who couldn't maintain the tie when the Orioles' Chris Davis took him to deep center for a three-run homer. There's no shame there, with Davis being one of the best sluggers in the game, but I'd rather have seen Koji for one more inning in that situation trying to preserve the tie.
But there was more drama to come in the bottom of the ninth when Mookie Betts led off with a home run to make it 9-7. Dustin Pedroia singled and Xander Bogaerts walked and so there was Big Papi coming to the plate, two on, nobody out, and the Sox down by two. Based on his track record as the clutchest hitter in Sox history everyone at the Fens was thinking three-run bomb to win, but if it happened every time, it wouldn't be special, and Ortiz grounded into a double play, effectively ending the game. So the Sox lose and fall to 3-3 on the year, while the Orioles remain the only undefeated team in the majors, off to a 6-0 start, best in their franchise history. Clay Buchholz gets his second start of the season for Boston in game two today.
The Yankees were off, and they take on the Blue Jays in Toronto tonight. The NY Mets continue to stumble out of the gate. They've now lost three in a row after a 10-3 drubbing at the hands of the Miami Marlins last night. Steven Matz got rocked for seven runs in the second inning which put the game away.
A lot of local games on the field were rained out yesterday but in College Baseball the Middlebury Panthers and Norwich Cadets got a game in yesterday, with the Panthers coming out on top 4-0 thanks to Colln Waters tossing a complete-game, two hit shutout for Middlebury, good for his first win as a Panther starter.
In the NBA, the Boston Celtics held Asian-American night at TD Garden last night, and that was good timing for Charlotte Hornets star Jeremy Lin, who was showered with cheers before the game from Boston's Asian-American community and then went out to torch the home team with twenty-five points in the Hornets' 114-100 win. The loss was significant for the Celtics, who were hoping to jockey for the third playoff seed in the eastern conference but with one game remaining can only finish as high as fourth or as low as sixth depending on a number of factors with other teams and their outcomes.
