The San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox lined up for the National Anthem to help kick off the Red Sox 2026 home opener at Fenway Park (Via Eric Canha/Imagn Images).
The Red Sox began their season on the road, and it was a stretch to forget, going 1-5 in their first six games and matching their worst start to a season since the 2019 campaign. Hoping to reverse their fortunes, they traveled ~1,838 miles from Houston, Texas back home to Fenway Park to play baseball there for the first time in 187 days, beginning with a three game series against the San Diego Padres.
In that span, the vibes started out great with a home opener victory and the team putting together glimpses throughout the series that show what they are capable of offensively, defensively, and on the mound throughout the long run. Unfortunately, their inability to close out certain parts of games was ultimately the dagger in the series, as the Padres wound up winning it, two games to one.
Game 1:
Marcelo Mayer high fiving teammates after he hit a two-run home run in the Red Sox’s 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres in their home opener (Via Stuart Cahill/MNG).
Before the game itself began, pregame introductions took place to commence the first of 81 regular season games at Fenway, including introducing the 2026 team to the crowd, and featuring the 40th anniversary celebration of the 1986 American League Championship team, as Bruce Hurst and that year’s ALCS MVP, Marty Barrett, each throwing out the first pitch. After that, it was time to play ball, as Sonny Gray made his home debut on the mound going up against a fellow New Englander in Michael King.
Both teams remained quiet offensively putting up one-two-three innings through their first two innings at the plate, with the only highlight being a standing ovation to Xander Bogaerts, who played his first game at Fenway Park since departing the team after the 2022 season. But, in the third, it was the Red Sox who struck first, as Marcelo Mayer doubled the other way off the Monster and Ceddanne Rafaela went back up the middle to drive him home and put them on the board first 1-0. Then, in the fourth, Jarren Duran found a hole through the right side, turning a base hit into a hustle double, setting up for Caleb Durbin, who had been 0 for 19 on the season, to turn in his first hit in a Boston uniform by going back up the middle, driving home Duran to make it 2-0.
It wouldn’t be until the fifth inning where the Padres got some offense going on their side. After a swinging strikeout by Ramón Laureano, Miguel Andujar hit a towering flyball to straightaway center that Rafaela lost in the sun, going to the warning track for a standup triple, coming home on a Gavin Sheets RBI single to put them on the board. Two batters later, Luis Campusano hit a towering double high off the Monster, allowing Sheets to score all the way from first base, and quickly, this game would be tied up at two runs a piece.
The Red Sox then flexed their muscles by showing off the long ball in the sixth inning to retake the lead. It began with Willson Contreras taking the first pitch he saw from King that inning 423 feet to Lansdowne Street for his first homer in a Boston uniform. Wilyer Abreu followed that up with a single. After a strikeout to Durbin, King’s day was over. Wandy Peralta was the first out of the bullpen for San Diego. He was rudely greeted by Mayer, taking the first pitch he threw into the bullpen for a two-run home run, putting together three runs in the inning and a 5-2 lead, which wound up being the final score.
The run support was enough of a cushion for Gray to finish his outing after six innings, overall fairing much better than in his first start, as he allowed two runs on four hits and no walks, while striking out three, and would have been six scoreless had Rafaela not lost the ball in the sun. His breaking pitches looked much better, and while he did not generate a ton of swing and miss with just eight whiffs, he did an outstanding job generating weak contact and getting more movement on his offspeed pitches.
Greg Weissert and Justin Slaten each followed with scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, with the pair each allowing no hits while recording a strikeout. Aroldis Chapman came out for the ninth, and despite allowing a two-out walk, got out of the inning unscathed to close out a Red Sox win and end a five-game losing streak. Additionally, he passed another former Boston closer in Jonathan Papelbon for 11th all-time with 369 career saves.
Overall, this game showed what this team is capable of, firing on all cylinders scoring five runs on nine hits, playing clean defense, and having strong pitching that limited the Padre bats to just four hits. It looked like the beginning of the turnaround for the ballclub, but as we came to find out, this game served as the lone bright spot for the series.
Game 2:
Aroldis Chapman was unable to get out of the ninth inning unscathed in game two of the series, allowing an RBI single to Ramón Laureano that led the San Diego Padres to a 3-2 win (Via Barry Chin/The Boston Globe).
After a warm and sunny home opener, the temperatures dropped to 43 degrees with wind gusts of 24 miles per hour, as Connelly Early made the start against Randy Vásquez. With the poor conditions, both teams had to grind for any runs to cross the plate, and it began with San Diego in the second inning, as Early issued a leadoff walk to Freddy Fermin and Ty France followed that up with a single, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. That led to the first run of the ballgame, as Bryce Johnson grounded out to plate Fermin and make it 1-0 Padres.
The Red Sox started their bottom-half of the inning in similar fashion, as Contreras singled through the left side and Abreu drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Durbin advanced the runners on a groundout, setting up for Mayer where he just missed a Vásquez fastball, but still hit it deep to the warning track allowing Contreras to score easily and tie the game back up.
However, San Diego wasted no time getting the lead right back to begin the third inning, with Andujar getting a one-out double, and three batters later, scoring on another double, this time by Fermin, retaking the lead 2-1. After four innings and 88 pitches thrown, Early’s day was over. He wasn’t as sharp as his first start allowing traffic on the basepaths, but did a great job limiting the damage, allowing two runs on three hits and four walks, while striking out four. There was a noticeable dip in his velocity and noted himself that he had a hard time gripping the ball, causing a lack of control with his pitches, but can chalk that up to the poor conditions throughout the game.
2-1 remained the score all the way up until the eighth, when Rafaela and Roman Anthony led off the inning with back to back singles to put runners on the corners with nobody out. After a Trevor Story strikeout, Alex Cora would have Andruw Monasterio pinch hit for Jarren Duran, where he worked a nine-pitch at bat against Padres’ reliever, Adrian Morejon. He hit into a forceout at second base, but beat the throw to first allowing Rafaela to score and tying the game back up at two runs a piece.
Chapman entered the ninth looking to give Boston a chance to walk-it-off in the bottom-of-the-inning, and it looked as if it was heading that way as he got two quick outs on a Jake Cronenworth lineout to shortstop and Nick Castellanos foul tipping to the mitt for strike three.
However, Tatis Jr. got a hold of a sinker that just kept rising and rising over Rafaela’s head for a standup double, and Laureano followed that up with a line drive single to left-center, as Anthony’s throw to the plate tailed off at the very last second allowing Tatis Jr. to score and San Diego to retake the lead 3-2. Mason Miller came in to close it out, and the Red Sox did not even have a chance, as he punched out the side for the win.
With the conditions of Fenway and how the game itself played out, it looked like it could be anyone’s to win, with Boston collecting seven hits and the Padres eight. Unfortunately, it just came down to a failure to close out the ninth inning, and losses like that are going to happen over the course of a season. It may, however, feel magnified with how the season as a whole has played out thus far.
Game 3:
Ranger Suarez began his first home start at Fenway Park with three scoreless innings, but struggled in the fourth inning as the San Diego Padres rallied from four runs down to win it 8-6 (Via Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo).
For the series finale, it would be Ranger Suarez matching up against an old friend in Walker Buehler. Both pitchers began the game dealing with two scoreless innings each, including some tremendous throws by Contreras and Abreu to throw out runners trying to advance to second. It was in the third inning, where Buehler began to crumble and the Red Sox capitalized.
The inning began with Buehler issuing back to back walks to Carlos Narváez and Anthony, with Story moving the runners over on a groundout. This led to Duran hooking a line drive just inside the first base line to bring home both runs and make it to second on a hustle double, and Abreu following that up with a shot into the right field corner, getting himself his first triple since the 2024 season to bring home another run and knocking Buehler out of the game.
With another old friend coming out of the bullpen in Kyle Hart to relieve him, Masataka Yoshida greeted him with a line drive down the right field line for a standup RBI double, and a four-run third for Boston. For the first time all season, the offense was able to click for a big inning, and Suarez was cruising, throwing three shutout innings.
It looked like everything from start to finish was going to go the team’s way, but it all came crashing down in the fourth, as Suarez loaded the bases with a Tatis Jr. double, and Jackson Merrill and Manny Machado followed up each hitting a single.
On the basepaths, Narváez found Machado leaning off first base and tried to pick him off, but he kicked the ball into foul territory and despite Contreras protesting to first base umpire, Erich Bacchus, Tatis Jr. scored for the first San Diego run of the game, with Merrill and Machado each advancing a base. Castellanos made it hurt with a line drive single to bring home both runners, and a four-run lead got erased to one with the Red Sox only leading 4-3.
After allowing a leadoff hit to Campusano to begin the fifth, Suarez’s day ended after just four innings pitched. He looked brilliant early on, but the fourth inning ruined a good start for him, battling as he threw 32 pitches in that inning alone, overall allowing four runs on six hits and two walks, while striking out two.
The fourth earned run came as Weissert entered in relief, and after getting back to back strikeouts to Laureano and Tatis Jr. to get to two outs, he failed to escape the inning, as Merrill singled and Machado made him pay, golfing a changeup low and inside into the Monster seats for a three-run homer, and San Diego officially completed the comeback down four runs, taking the lead 6-4.
While the Boston bats failed to get anything going in the middle part of the game, Tyler Uberstine entered in the sixth to make his Major League debut in the sixth inning, beginning his career throwing two shutout innings and recording his first career strikeout to Campusano to begin the seventh.
Later that inning, the Red Sox rallied once again, as Story singled (though replaced on the bases by a Contreras fielder’s choice) and Abreu doubled, putting two runners in scoring position for Yoshida. He then proceeded to drive both of them home on his second double of the game, giving him RBIs two and three in the ballgame and tying the game back up at six.
Uberstine then came out again for the eighth inning looking to continue building the momentum. Instead, Merrill connected on a dead red fastball and sent it the other way to left-center field for what wound up being the game winning home run and a 7-6 Padre lead. They tagged on one more run in the ninth off Zack Kelly as Sheets doubled and got brought home on a Tatis Jr. sacrifice fly for a key insurance run.
Miller punched out the side for the second consecutive day, and San Diego stole the game and series by a final score of 8-6.
On a day where the offense was clicking with nine hits, the pitching just could not get the job done, and left Boston in a major hole they ultimately could not dig out of.
MVP of the Series:
There were a few standout performances throughout the series, which included Mayer going two for two with a double and home run in the home opener, and both Abreu finishing a homer shy of the cycle and Yoshida collecting two doubles and three RBIs in the series finale.
However, the MVP of this series belongs to Sonny Gray, as he went five innings, allowing two runs (which would not have happened had Rafaela not lost the ball in the sun), on just four hits while striking out three to pick up the win. With overall up and down performances by the hitters game by game, along with not the best performances by Early or Suarez, Gray being the lone positive constant in performance earns him this honor.
What’s Next?:
There are some signs to be encouraged about in this series, as the offense as a whole collected 26 hits in the series and overall matched the Padres in runs scored with 13. However, it was the pitching that held the team back, with Chapman giving up a lead in game two, with Suarez and Weissert combining to erase a four-run lead in the series finale.
As a result, Boston finds themselves with a 2-7 record after nine games, which matches their worst start to a season since 2019 once again, and only the sixth time since 1950 that they have started a season with that record. To make matters worse, they currently have the worst record in baseball, and sit as the only team without three wins as of April 5th.
The season is far from over with 153 games left to play. With that said, the last two times the Red Sox started off 2-7, they finished with winning records with 90 wins in 2011 and 84 wins in 2019, but missed the playoffs in both seasons. You cannot win a division in April, but you can certainly lose one, and change will need to come quickly.
A tough challenge awaits to get back on track, as the red hot Milwaukee Brewers come to town to finish up the first home stand of the season. It’ll begin with Brayan Bello going up against Brandon Woodruff tonight at 6:45 PM EST, with a battle of the aces as Jacob Misiorowski goes up against Garrett Crochet tomorrow night at 6:45 PM EST, and finishing the series Wednesday at 1:35 PM EST as Gray faces Chad Patrick.
A win in this series can help lift the team back into high spirits, but it begins with one game, one inning, and one pitch at a time.
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