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Duvall Makes Big First Impression

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After a dispiriting Opening Day, the Red Sox bounced back for two straight wins over the Orioles. The momentum of Saturday’s come-from-behind 9-8 win carried over to Sunday with a 9-5 victory.

Photo by Taylor Rooney on Unsplash

Saturday’s game, sealed by an improbable late-game defensive error and then a walk-off homer, was particularly thrilling. Down by a run in the bottom of the 9th, Orioles reliever Félix Bautista quickly dispatched Rafael Devers and Justin Turner. When Masataka Yoshida popped up to left field the game seemed done, but the ball bounced in and out of Ryan McKenna‘s glove. Adam Duvall seized the day, hammering a pitch low in the zone 387 feet to the tip top of the Green Monster. The ball dropped back into the field of play, and while the umpires reviewed if it’d gone out, Fenway celebrated the foregone conclusion under the pulsating new celebration lights installed in the off-season.

Sox set new season records

For Duvall, it was a second career walk-off home run and eighth career game with five or more runs batted in, having already doubled and tripled earlier in the day. Duvall became the first Boston batter with five RBI and a walk-off home run since Hall of Famer David Ortiz in 2007 against the Devil Rays.

On Sunday, he was back at it with three hits and two more RBI. In all, Duvall’s eight RBI since Opening Day was the most by a Red Sox batter over the first three games of a season since Brock Holt in 2016 (also eight RBI). The only Sox with more RBI were Hall of Famers Bobby Doerr (1941) and Ted Williams (1942) as well as Arquimedez Pozo (1996), each with nine.

Duvall’s six extra-base hits were a franchise record for any player in his first three games with the club, surpassing earlier marks set by Gabe Kapler (2003) and Jose Offerman (2002), each of whom had five. Duvall’s 6 XBH tied with five other MLB players for the most XBH in his first three games with a team since at least 1901 (Mariners David Segui, 1998; Reds Chris Dickerson, 2008; Rockies Mark Ellis, 2011; Padres Carlos Quentin, 2012; and Blue Jays Rowdy Tellez, 2018).

Update

Shortly after this article was published, Red Sox slugger Adam Duvall was named American League Player of the Week. It’s the first such honor for the 10-season Major League veteran.

It’s just three games, but Boston offense looked prodigious all weekend, scoring nine runs in each game. It was the first time the Sox had nine or more runs in three straight games since July 2019. The Red Sox became just the third Major League team ever to score nine or more runs in the first three games of a season, joining the 1978 Brewers and 1976 Reds.

Offense overcomes rough pitching

There were plenty of hits (34 in all), heads-up base running, and lots of scoring. The Red Sox needed all of it because the starting pitching had been rough until Sunday. Corey Kluber and Chris Sale, starters for Games 1 and 2, were hit hard and left before the fourth inning. But unlike Opening Day, the Boston bullpen delivered quality on Saturday with just one run allowed over 6.0 IP.

On Sunday, Tanner Houck, solid through four innings, allowed three quick Orioles runs before departing after 5.0 IP. John Schreiber, Chris Martin, and Kaleb Ort came through, though, with 3.0 scoreless innings, and Boston’s solid offense assured a win with 14 hits in all, just three going for extra-bases.

The Red Sox will now face the Pittsburgh Pirates for three games at Fenway before heading out for the first road trip of the season to Detroit and Tampa Bay.


Red Sox Lose Season Opener

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In a game that felt eerily like the bad old days of 2022, the Red Sox dropped the season opener to the Orioles 10-9. As was so often the case last year, the Sox offense, which trailed from the first inning, rallied again and again only to see the hole dug deeper by lackluster pitching.

Corey Kluber, in his Red Sox debut and sixth career Opening Day start, couldn’t reach the fourth inning. He was charged with the loss, allowing five earned runs and issuing an uncharacteristic four walks over just 3.1 IP. With the Rays last year Kluber’s 3% walk rate was the lowest of his career and best in the Major Leagues.

But it was the Red Sox bullpen, the primary focus of Baseball Boss Chaim Bloom’s off-season, that kept the game out of reach with Ryan Brasier and Kaleb Ort combining for five earned runs and just one strikeout over 3.0 IP. It was just the fifth time in franchise history that multiple Sox relievers allowed multiple runs on Opening Day, joining Dave Ferriss & Walt Masterson (1950). Alan Embree & Chad Fox (2003), Joe Kelly & Carson Smith (2018), and Tyler Thornburg & Hector Velázquez (2019).

Thursday’s bullpen meltdown hearkened back to so many 2022 games when multiple relievers allowed multiple runs in 18 different games. The Sox’ next closest division rival had half as many such games.

The Red Sox are now 59-63-1 in inaugural games of a new season, including 25-20 in such games at home (22-20 at Fenway Park).

Notes from the game

  • A triple for Alex Verdugo was the first by a lead off batter to start the Red Sox offense in an Opening Day game since Rabbit Warstler on Opening Day 1931 at Washington Senators. Was third such triple in club history and the first ever at a Fenway Park season opener.
  • Verdugo became just the seventh lead off batter with a triple for the Sox on Opening Day. It’s a list that includes the late, great Sox Hall of Famer Jerry Remy (in 1978).
  • Corey Kluber is just second starter in Red Sox club history to allow multiple home runs and 4+ walks in an Opening Day start. The other to do that was Earl Wilson on Day One of the 1966 season, which was also played agains Baltimore.
  • Ryan Brasier became just the seventh reliever in Major League history (and just the fourth ever in American League history) to allow 3+ earned runs, multiple walks, and be charged with a wild pitch in 1.0 or fewer innings of an Opening Day game.
  • All three newcomers to the Red Sox lineup this season (Adam Duvall, Justin Turner, and Masataka Yoshida) had a hit and an RBI on Opening Day, with Turner and Yoshida recording two hits each.
  • The Red Sox were the only AL East team to lose on Opening Day 2023.
  • The Red Sox became just the sixth team in MLB history to record 9+ walks and 2+ wild pitches in an Opening Day game. The Royals did that to open the 2021 campaign,but the previous such game was by 1982 Blue Jays.
  • The nine walks issued by Boston pitchers today tied a franchise record for an Opening Day game (also in 1926 and 1966).
  • Baltimore’s young catcher, Adley Rutschman, was 5-for-5 on Thursday becoming just the second ever to do that in Orioles Opening Day history. He joined Harlond Clift in the 1937 opener (also 5-for-5, also with a home run). Rutschman became the 14th batter in American League history with as many as five hits, including a home run, and at least one walk in a game before turning 26 years old. In Boston history, just two batters have done that: Carl Yastrzemski in 1965 and Lou Clinton in 1962.
  • Before Rutschman today, the only other batter in Baltimore franchise history with five hits, a walk, and a home run in a game was one-time Red Sox Don Baylor on August 14, 1973 at Rangers.
  • Since at least 1901, no catcher but Rutschman has recorded five hits or gotten on base six times in a season-opening game.

Looking ahead to 2023

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Major League Baseball today announced the much-anticipated 2023 full season schedule. Opening Day is set for March 30. The Red Sox will start the new campaign at home against the Baltimore Orioles.

The new approach to scheduling baseball games for next year is no small feat and it may result in some teams, including the Red Sox, having an advantage they haven’t had before. Here’s how it works (and if you don’t care, just scroll on down to the 2023 Red Sox schedule).

A new kind of schedule

The new schedule is considered balanced in that all 30 Major League teams will face each other over the course the season. Currently, competition is limited to a select number of teams from the opposing league.

“My Fenway perpetual calendar” by joyosity is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

The new schedule splits all play into Division Games, Intraleague Games (against teams in the same league), and Interleague Games (against teams in the opposing league).

Beyond seeing all other teams, the new schedule’s biggest impact may be the reduction of games played against division rivals. This was a necessary concession made in order to fit the goals of a balanced schedule into the confines of a 162-game calendar. Division Games will drop from the 19 played this year to 13 next year.

In practice, this means the Red Sox will play 52 total games (rather than the current 76) against the Blue Jays, Orioles, Rays, and Yankees. Those 52 games will be evenly split, with 26 home games and 26 played on the road.

In addition to a reduction in division games, the number of Intraleague Games will go from 66 this year to 64 next year, while games against the opposing league will rise from 20 this year to 46 in 2023.

New Start: Spring Training

The official Spring Training calendar starts on Friday, February 24, with the Sox taking on Northeastern University, for the traditional exhibition game that day. The first official Spring game for Boston comes the next day, when the Sox will open Grapefruit League action at the home of the Braves, CoolToday Park.

In all, the Sox are scheduled to play 32 spring games, including 18 at home at JetBlue Park at Fenway South in Lee County, Florida.

Red Sox 2023 Calendar

After a home series to open 2023 against Baltimore, the Red Sox will face the Pirates at Fenway in an immediate turn to Interleague action. The Sox will then go on to host the Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers, Marlins, Mets, Reds, and Rockies at Fenway next season. On the road, Boston will see the remaining National League teams and will also see the Braves in Atlanta, as well.

The new calendar makes for more travel for all teams next year and includes some long stints out west for the Red Sox, including a nine-game stretch to the homes of the Padres, Angels and Diamondbacks at the end of May.

If all goes to plan, the regular season will wrap up on October 1 with a four-game set against Baltimore, the team where it all started back in March.


Red Sox Set Opening Day Roster

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At long last, the Red Sox are poised to start the abbreviated 2020 season. Today the team announced its 30-man roster for the 120th season of Red Sox baseball.

PITCHERS

CATCHERS

INFIELDERS/OUTFIELDERS


An Opening Day Like No Other

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For many of us, it’s typically the best day of the year. A day that feels as though it should be a national holiday.

Just the words “opening day” boost the spirits of baseball fans everywhere, especially those of us who love the game, its history, players, rituals, and yes, even its pace.

But 2020 is no ordinary year and this is no ordinary Opening Day. The usual world order is upended, and, of course, that applies to baseball, too.

The regular season was suspended earlier this month, a time that seems eons ago already. And while the delays have generated near-endless business concerns about issues of scheduling, compensation, and player service times, to fans, the unprecedented halt to this regular routine of spring, a routine is jarring, to say the least.

On Thursday, Rob Manfred, the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, issued an open letter to baseball fans everywhere promising the baseball will return, just as soon as it’s safe to do so.

As noted in the Commissioner’s letter, the MLB web site’s coronavirus resources page has general information about the virus and how to protect yourself. It also provides links to charities worthy of your support, if you’re able, during this tough time. These include Feeding America and Meals on Wheels America, to which MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association together have donated $1 million.

Watch baseball online

MLB has made a wide collection of games available for free streaming. Here are links to where you can find them:

  • The last two years of Major League Baseball games, including the postseason, are now available to everyone for free. All you need is a free MLB account.

    For Red Sox Nation, opening the vault means easy access to 108 wins of the remarkable 2018 season all the way to a World Series win. A few highlights to consider (courtesy of Ian Browne’s review on the MLB web site):
    • April 8: Sox explode for 6 straight two-out hits to come back from a 5-run deficit in the bottom of the eighth to beat the Rays, 8-7.
    • May 2: Mookie Betts belts 3 home runs (for a second time in the young season) and the Red Sox need all of them in a 5-4 win over the Royals.
    • May 10: J.D. Martinez comes up with his first big “rivalry moment” in a game against the Yankees.
    • June 30: Chris Sale goes 7.0 shutout innings with just one Yankees hit allowed, leading the Sox to an 11-0 win. Rafael Devers goes 5-for-5 with a grand slam in this one!
    • July 2: Rick Porcello clears the bases with a double off Nationals ace Max Scherzer.
    • July 12: A Mookie Betts classic, with a grand slam after a 13-pitch at-bat. Was the first time a player hit a grand slam in an at-bat of 13 pitches or more since Gary Scott did so for the Cubs in 1992.
    • July 27: After Craig Kimbrel blows a save, Devers ties it with a solo shot in the bottom of the ninth and Betts sends everyone home happy with the first walk-off homer of his career.
    • August 2: Steve Pearce records three home runs in a 15-7 win pounding of the Yankees.
    • August 5: Down 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Red Sox rise up to beat Yankees at home 5-4.
    • September 5: Down 7-1 entering the eighth against the Braves, the Sox roar back with a six-run rally. Hard to pick just one, but this is likely the top comeback win of the season for Boston.