ST. PETERSURG, Fla. -- Well, the first seven innings went as planned. After that, not so much.
Chris Sale dominated. Red Sox hitters hunted early in the count, putting up four runs thanks to an inside-the-park homer from Eduardo Nunez and a couple of RBIs off the bat of Rafael Devers.
Xander Bogaerts' resurgence? Three hits. Even the introduction to the bullpen went fine, with Matt Barnes cruising through the seventh after Chris Sale's 92-pitch, six-inning outing.
But then came the eighth-inning train wreck that officially put a potential problem on the radar. It also handed the Sox an improbable 6-4 loss to the Rays on Opening Day at Tropicana Field.
(For a complete recap, click here.)
First, Joe Kelly allowed one run in the eighth, then loading the bases before giving way to Carson Smith. That didn't go well. Smith walked in another run to cut the lead to two before giving up a 3-2, two-out, three-run triple to Denard Span.
The wheels fell off in a hurry.
Neither Kelly or Smith had any command all, with the issue culminating in the 92 mph fastball Span pulled down the right-field line for the game-changer. A slow roller by Adeiny Hecavarria which Bogaerts couldn't quite handle added some salt to the wound, allowing an insurance run for the Rays.
It was a tough day for new Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who showed a tremendous amount of faith in Smith, who pitched in just eight regular-season games last season after coming back from Tommy John surgery.
Cora did have lefty Bobby Poyner up during Kelly's struggles, but sat him down when deciding to bring on Smith. It left the righty on the mound against the lefty-hitting Span in the pivotal situation. The outfielder had significantly better splits against right-handers (.284) than he did vs. lefties (.226), not having faced Smith prior to the season opener.
Cora said after the game that Poyner wasn't a consideration, and he didn't want to ask closer Craig Kimbrel for a four-out save.
The Red Sox did get the potential tying run to the plate after Nunez's two-out double in the ninth, but Jackie Bradley Jr. ended the game with a grounder to second.
HOF Joe got a chance to call an inside-the-park home run on Day 1 ... pic.twitter.com/feufIzB3DD
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) March 29, 2018
