ARLINGTON, Texas - Sickness. Weight loss. The birth of twins.
What was a wild spring training turned into a memorable Opening Day for Wilyer Abreu. And the Red Sox were the big winners because of it.
Abreu, who got just 21 Grapefruit League at-bats due to a gastrointestinal virus (and a brief time away for the birth of his two sons), almost single-handedly carried the Red Sox to a 5-2, Opening Day win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
The right fielder rocketed two home runs, including a three-run homer in the ninth inning that broke a 2-2 deadlock and ultimately handed the Sox the lead for good. Adding to the equation was Abreu scoring the Red Sox’ first run, coming in on a Ceddanne Rafaela ground out.
"Jarren (Duran) was like, Oh, you don't need spring training. Like, actually, he probably got more at bats than you because he was getting seven and eight every single day since he went back. He's such a good player. Dynamic," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Abreu. "Last year he had a big one here, big game when his grandma passed away, and he hit two for the twins. You can’t go one. For twins, you’ve got to get two.”
Abreu’s ninth-inning heroics was made possible thanks to a Trevor Story walk and stolen base, which was followed by Kristian Campbell’s first career hit. That led to the outfielder tearing into a 2-2 slider from Rangers reliever Luke Jackson for the win.
"It was a very special moment for me, even better when you can start the season with a win like this so it as very nice and a very big game for us," Abreu said.
As far as the Opening Day starting pitching matchup went, both sides came away feeling no worse about their aces.
For the Red Sox, Garrett Crochet was forced into some long early innings before settling into a five-inning, two-run outing in which he ultimately threw 88 pitches. The only damage done against the lefty came on RBI hits from Kevin Pillar and Kyle Higashioka, respectively.
On the other side, Nathan Eovaldi - who chose the Rangers over the Red Sox in his ultimate free agent decision this past offseason - looked like his old dominant self. The righty went six innings, striking out nine and not walking a batter.
By the time both starters exited, the teams found themselves deadlocked at 2-2, thanks to Abreu.
One element of the Red Sox construction that didn’t go as planned was the inability for any production from the top of their lineup, particularly newly-minted designated hitter Rafael Devers. Devers fanned on his first three plate appearances of the season before finally grounding out to first for his first ball put in play.
The two hitters sitting behind Devers didn’t fare much better, with Alex Bregman and Triston Casas going a combined 0-for-8.
A piece of the equation that did pan out for the Red Sox was a group of relievers who kept the Rangers scoreless after Crochet’s exit. First it was Garrett Whitlock, who pitched two scoreless innings. And then Aroldis Chapman arrived to shut down the heart of the Rangers’ order in the eighth.
That set the stage for Justin Slaten’s 1-2-3 ninth, earning the first save the season.
"That's what we wanted to do," said Cora of the relievers. "Whit, multiple innings, that’s how we're going to use them multiple innings, regardless of the pocket. Seager was leading off the eighth, that's for Chapman. He can get righties out. And then Slaten was outstanding."