And with one violent swing, Adrian Beltre provided.
Over the course of eight innings, so, too, did Daisuke Matsuzaka.
The former provided all the offense necessary in Thursday's 6-2 win, a victory that salvaged a four-game split with the last-place Indians. It came on one pitch — a 92-mph meatball served up by rookie Josh Tomlin — in the bottom of the fourth inning, awakening a Fenway crowd that was wondering where the Sox would get some offense. Beltre answered in a very big way.
"He continues to just take ferocious swings without losing sight of what he's doing," said manager Terry Francona.
It was fitting that Beltre, one of just four Opening Day starters to have avoided the disabled list to this point, was the one to deliver in the absence of Youkilis. With the first baseman gone for the year, the offense will rely heavily upon the other corner infielder for production over the course of the next two months. With the way Beltre (.336 batting average with 20 homers and 75 RBIs) is feeling, that shouldn't be a problem.
"I think it's been more confidence," Beltre told NESN's Heidi Watney after the game. "I started the season hitting good and I just tried to keep the same swing going. At Fenway, it's a little warm now, so I think the ball carries a little better, so you have that confidence that if you put a good swing on it, you might get something good out of it."
Beltre definitely got something good out of Tomlin's pitch, giving the Red Sox the lead in the process. Daisuke made sure they kept it. He was incredibly efficient, holding the Tribe scoreless for his final 7 1/3 innings, never allowing more than one runner to reach base in any inning and retiring the final six batters he faced.
"His two-seamer really had some depth to it," Francona said. "He pitched with confidence and, yeah, it was really good."
Matsuzaka finished his night after the eighth, giving up five hits and two walks while striking out six. It was just the latest in an outstanding stretch for Matsuzaka, who is now 3-0 with a 2.48 ERA since July 11. The team is 4-1 in those five starts.
"I think the most important thing was that we have that rhythm," Victor Martinez, who has caught the last two of those starts, said after the game. "We got that pace. We didn't take too long between pitches and then he was executing all his pitches. It was pretty good."
The game didn't end as cleanly as it looked it would, however. J.D. Drew drove in a pair of runs with a single in the bottom of the eighth, opening up a 6-1 lead. Hideki Okajima entered the game in the ninth inning, but he gave up two hits and a walk in retiring just one batter. Jonathan Papelbon was summoned with two runners on and one out, and he picked up his 26th save with a pair of strikeouts.
Even with Matsuzaka's impressive night, it was the one swing from Beltre that came to define the game. After Tomlin had walked Martinez and Drew on 10 combined pitches, Beltre stepped to the plate and watched a ball bounce in the dirt. With just about any other hitter wearing white on Thursday night, there would be no chance that a swing would follow. However, it's quite clear that Beltre is unlike any other player.
Beltre stood in the box, legs stiffened, arms relaxed. The poise and control he shows before the pitch completely disappears once the swing begins, and this one was no different. Beltre unloaded, instantly giving the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.
As always, Martinez rubbed Beltre's head after circling the bases, an action that typically causes Beltre to raise his fists. This time, though, Beltre shook it off.
"They're always trying to screw with me, but it's OK," he said. "I'll take it."
After the bad news earlier in the day and the rough stretch of late, it'd be hard for anyone on the Red Sox to get too upset after that moment.
