When Red Sox manager Terry Francona finally penciled his reserves into the starting lineup, he did so on a night that Kansas City had reigning Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke on the mound.
Jason Varitek, Jeremy Hermida and Mike Lowell had to make their first starts against a guy that had dominated opponents in 2009. Unfazed, each helped chase Greinke by the seventh inning and fueled an 8-3 Boston win Saturday night in Kauffman Stadium.
The trio watched from the bench every second of a three-game losing streak, with the exception of one at-bat for Hermida after David Ortiz was ejected Friday night. Perhaps knowing that playing time will be tough to come by early in the season, they made the most of their opportunities.
The Sox trailed Greinke 1-0 entering the fifth. He had retired 10 of 11 when Hermida strode to the plate to lead off the inning and deposited a hanging curve over the wall in right to get Boston on the board. Before Hermida had finished his high-fives, Varitek slugged Greinke's next offering for another homer, giving the Sox the lead for good.
Boston would hit three more home runs on the night, including another by Varitek in the ninth.
Francona said the new lineup gave the club a much-needed infusion of energy in the dugout. Hermida indicated that camaraderie had a hand in the positive results.
"Us bench guys are sticking together and it was good for us all to get a chance to play," Hermida said. "It was a nice contribution from us guys…It's a role we’re all trying to get used to and trying to feed off each other. It's a role we haven’t really been in before. It’s a bit different but we’re learning on the fly."
Those "bench guys" had been discussed for days. Since scoring nine runs in Sunday's opening day win, the regulars had put up a total of eight in the next three games. Francona had not made one single voluntary substitution in the first four contests (Ortiz's ejection had forced a change Friday), and several wondered when they would see what has been called the best Boston bench in years.
Francona admitted that getting them started against Greinke is not an easy thing to do, but was pleased with what came of it.
"I mean, that's tough duty," Francona said. "Facing Greinke in that situation. 'Tek took some really good swings. Mikey Lowell gets a hit, makes some good plays defensively, Hermida get us on the board."
Lowell, who hinted before the game that he might retire after the season, had a single in four trips to the plate and made a series of nice defensive stops in his first appearance at third base, the position he was chased from this offseason with the signing of Adrian Beltre. On one of the plays, the 35-year-old Lowell made a cat-quick dive to his backhand side to stab a hard grounder off the bat of Yuniesky Betancourt.
Lowell had a smile on his face after the play. Perhaps he was still thinking of that moment in the clubhouse when he saw his name and those of his fellow reserves finally on the lineup card opposite Zack Greinke. It was still worth a laugh, as were the final results.
