The Red Sox looked like they were going to suffer an ugly defeat to open their 2023 campaign, but Opening Day wouldn’t come and go without at least one bright spot.
Boston was on the wrong end of some history in Thursday’s loss to the Baltimore Orioles, walking nine batters and putting forth an overall abysmal pitching performance. That was the bad news. The good news? The Red Sox offense appears to be pretty damn good.
“Even up to the last pitch, the offense did a great job of battling back,” Corey Kluber said postgame, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox coverage. “They were engaged from the first pitch to the last.
“From the other side, I feel like that’s kind of the identity of this club over the last however many years. They’re never out of a game. Regardless of how things start, if we score nine runs most days I like our chances.”
The Red Sox offense came on strong in their effort for a comeback win, scoring seven runs on five hits over the final four innings. Masataka Yoshida, Adam Duvall and Justin Turner all got on the board with their first RBIs in Boston, with seven different players recording a hit.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora even seemed to pull the right strings when it came to lineup decisions, as Raimel Tapia got on base and scored a run when pinch hitting for Kiké Hernández.
Though the game as a whole was disappointing, the bright spot was enough to bring optimism for the Red Sox’s next matchup with the Orioles on Saturday at Fenway Park. First pitch is set for 4:10 p.m. ET after an hour of pregame coverage, and you can watch it live on NESN.
