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This was not the first impression the Red Sox were banking on.
The optimism and vibes Alex Cora were praising before the Sox' Fenway Park opener against the Orioles - thanks in large part a season-opening 7-3 West Coast trip - was drastically tempered Tuesday afternoon.
That was thanks to the Orioles and their ace, Corbin Burnes.
Baltimore took advantage of numerous Red Sox miscues on the way to a 7-1 win over the hosts. The dagger coming for the Red Sox in the fourth when the Sox squandered two chances to escape with the game tied. The defense Cora had been crowing about coming out of spring training took a turn for the worse at a most inopportune time.
First was a grounder off the bat of Ryan Mouncastle, which Rafael Devers saw ricochet off his glove after sliding to his left. It wasn’t an error, but it was a play that most likely should have been made. Next up was Cedric Mullins, who lofted a soft line-drive into the left field corner where Jarren Duran fell victim to a combination of sun and shade while sprinting over. The ball fell out of Duran’s glove, also keeping the frame going.
"It wasn’t a good game," Cora said. "We’re going to have some of those. We’ve got some young guys playing. Just, too bad it happened today. He was really good. He used his offspeed more than in the past. His curveball and changeup. I know we had a lot of lefties, but this is where we’re at. Just a bad game. Got to throw it out, come here and work tomorrow and be ready.”
"I just (expletive) suck, man. (Expletive), it’s my (expletive) fault," Duran said. "If I make that play, we get out of the inning and then none of those other (expletive) things happen. I just (expletive) suck." The outfielder added, "I was just running and I kind of thought I was already there, but it just kept tailing away. I should have taken a couple more steps. Then I would have been on it. It's just, good slice on the ball. I just kept going. I kind of sprinted towards it, thought I was with it, and then it just kept going. I tried to extend. I just missed it."
Rookie outfielder Colton Cowser made the Red Sox pay with a double into center field, scoring a pair off Red Sox starter Brayan Bello while giving the Orioles a lead they would never relinquish.
It was an uphill climb the Red Sox had no chance at scaling thanks in large part to Burnes.
The former National League Cy Young Award winner showed all the makings of the ace the Orioles believed they were getting when trading two top prospects to the Brewers in exchange for Burnes. The righty lowered his ERA to 1.93, holding the Red Sox to just one Tyler O’Neill solo home run (and two total hits) over seven innings.
Bello did end up going 5 1/3 innings, but it was reliever Josh Winckowski who took it on the chin in the later innings. Winckowski allowed four runs on nine hits over 2 2/3 innings, throwing 65 pitches.
"We’ve got to keep going," Cora said. "We’ve got to go. It’s tough. It sounds hard, like he has no feelings or whatever. No, it’s the other way around. I care about these guys, but we’ve got to go. We’ve got goals and they’re our goals and we’re going to keep pushing for that. It was a bad day today. We’ve just got to turn the page tomorrow and play good baseball. Of course we’re going to miss them, but somebody has to step up."