Professional sports will finally play a countable game in Beantown tonight when the Boston Red Sox opening their 2020 season when the host the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway at 7:35 p.m.
On Thursday night, the New York Yankees opened their schedule when they went to Washington D.C. and defeated the defending World Champion Nationals 4-1 in a rain shortened game that was called in the top of the fifth inning. Giancarlo Stanton had a two run 459 foot homer in the first and later added an RBI single, as New York made a winner out of Gerrit Cole who pitched his first game in pinstripes as he allowed only one hit which was a solo homerun to Adam Eaton. Cole now has 66 consecutive innings with at least one strikeout, the longest in MLB history. Max Scherzer allowed four runs on six hits in the loss with 11 strikeouts.
Kike Hernandez had a four hit and five RBI night (career high) including a two run homer, as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants 8-1 on opening night Thursday at Dodger Stadium. Dustin May who made the start for an injured Clayton Kershaw, went 4.1 innings on the hill allowing one run on seven hits. Former Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, who has signed a record 365 contact extension with Los Angeles, went 1 for 5 in his first game in Dodger blue with a pair of strikeouts. Hernandez, who plays second base, is only the second in history at that position to ever have five RBI in a season opening game (Joe Morgan, 1978).
Along with the Boston-Balitmore game at Fenway Friday night, the rest of the league gets going with games as well. Some of the other intriguing opening series to watch has Atlanta visiting New York to play the Mets in a National League East showdown, Toronto visits Tampa to play the Rays, and Milwaukee heads to Chicago to battle the Cubs at Wrigley Field. In game one in Boston, the Sox send out Nathan Eovaldi (2-1, 5.99 ERA in 23 appearances in 2019), to go up against Tommy Milone (4-10, 4.76 in 23 appearances in 2019 with Seattle). Boston will go with Martin Perez and Ryan Weber in afternoon matinees on Saturday and Sunday respectively at 1:35. With top pitcher Chris Sale recovering from offseason Tommy John surgery, Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez need to come up big. Rodriguez though has been shut down to start the season and could miss at least two weeks due to complications from coronavirus. Eastern Maine Sports as always will have you covered with recaps from all Red Sox baseball action for 2020.
