If someone would have told me that Lester would allow 3 home runs and not strike out a single batter, I would have suspected an April Fool's joke. Yet that's exactly what happened on Opening Day 2011. Continuing his history of April scuffling, Lester gave up 5 runs and let 3 balls leave the yard. After Albers, Reyes and Wheeler held the line (though Reyes walked the only batter he faced), Bard came in and stoked the Rangers' offensive fire, letting 4 more runs in, after Big Papi tied the game in the top of the 8th inning with a solo shot to left.
Despite the outcome of the game, there was plenty of good going on for the Sox: Ells reached base 4 times out of 5 on 2 hits (a single and a double), a walk and an error. He also collected his first stolen base of the season. Youk showed signs of coming out of his spring slump with a hit, an RBI and a walk. The biggest story of the game was Adrian Gonzalez, who knocked in 3 of the 5 Red Sox runs with 2 very timely hits. He took advantage of the Rangers' inattention to him at first and swiped just the second base of his career.
The other big offseason acqusition, Carl Crawford, had a day at the plate that he'd just as soon forget: 0 for 4 with 3 Ks. The bottom of the order (Cameron, Salty, and Scoots) also came up empty, save for a walk by Cameron.
The Sox did better than I'd expected against Wilson (4 runs over 5.2 innings) but their pitching just couldn't hold the leads and ties they had. Ironically, it was two of the most reliable arms on the team that did the damage. Having them both implode on one day shouldn't happen that often.
So the Sox dropped the opener, but remember, they dropped the opener in '04 and '07 as well. Just sayin... 161 games to go.
Tomorrow: Lackey vs. Colby Lewis. Let's take 2 of 3!
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