BOSTON, Mass. — For one night at least, the Boston Red Sox didn’t miss Mookie Betts’ bat.
J.D. Martinez and Kevin Pillar each drove in three runs, and the Red Sox rolled past the Baltimore Orioles 13-2 on Friday night in Fenway Park’s first taste of regular season baseball during the coronavirus pandemic.
Jackie Bradley Jr., Jose Peraza, Martinez and Pillar each doubled as part of a four-run third inning. Boston kept it going in the fourth, sending 11 batters to the plate and adding six more runs.
Nathan Eovaldi (1-0) gave up just one run and five hits, striking out four over six innings in his first career opening day start.
Baltimore starter Tommy Milone (0-1) got his first opening day nod after All-Star lefty John Means experienced arm fatigue. He surrendered four runs, four hits, three walks, had a wild pitch and struck out five. Rio Ruiz homered in the seventh.
Like in other opening day games around the majors, there were no spectators allowed inside Boston’s fabled park on Friday. But there were cardboard cutouts of Red Sox fans placed on the seats above the Green Monster to serve as virtual witnesses to the franchise’s version of the league’s new normal.
Friday also marked Boston’s first regular season game since an offseason shakeup that included a salary-dump trade of Betts and pitcher David Price to the Dodgers, and the departure of Alex Cora as manager for his role in an illegal system of sign stealing when he was with the Houston Astros.
Ron Roenicke, who served as Cora’s bench coach for two seasons and succeeded him as manager just before the start of spring training, earned his first managerial win since a five-year tenure with the Brewers ended in 2015.
PREGAME TRIBUTES
There were continued nods to the nation’s social justice movement prior to the game. Players on both teams wore Black Lives Matter t-shirts and a Major League Baseball-issued Black Lives Matter sign was spread across the center field bleachers.
Players from both teams knelt while holding a black ribbon in a unity moment before the game. During the national anthem, Red Sox outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. and Alex Verdugo continued to kneel and were joined by third base coach Carlos Febles and first base coach Tom Goodwin. Orioles players stood with their arms linked.
There was also a moment of silence in honor of those who’ve died during the pandemic and for medical workers.
