Early in 2026, there have been occasions when the parts of the Red Sox roster have seemed mismatched. On Friday night, the team discovered a solution to that predicament: Drench everything in Fenway green.

In this season’s first game in their verdant City Connect uniforms, the Sox rediscovered last year’s formula for alternate-uniform magic. After a scoreless tie carried through regulation, the Sox broke through against the Tigers in the bottom of the 10th for a 1-0 victory.

In one sense, the game was a rarity: A 1-0 walkoff win in extra innings, the Sox’ first since 1980. In another, it was colorfully familiar to 34,866 Fenway patrons: Since the Sox introduced their green uniforms last year, they’re 7-5 wearing them, with all seven victories via walkoff.

The win was made possible by brilliance from starter Ranger Suarez, who tossed eight scoreless innings. But the decisive blow came from Masataka Yoshida, a player often cast in the role of spare part but who on Friday underscored that he is capable of more.

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With runners on the corners and one out, Yoshida chopped a pinch-hit, game-winning single over a drawn-in, five-man Tigers infield. When the Sox needed a hitter to reliably put the ball in play against Will Vest, Yoshida delivered in a challenging role for his first walkoff hit in four seasons with the Sox.

“He’s a good hitter,” said manager Alex Cora. “[Pinch hitting] is not easy. But having that guy on the bench, or having Roman [Anthony] on the bench or Jarren [Duran] in a situation like that, you have to pick your poison on the other side. They’re good hitters, all of them. We’re going to use them the way we want to use them. And [Yoshida] was ready.”

Red Sox starter Ranger Suarez allowed two hits in eight innings, striking out four and walking one.Barry Chin/Globe Staff

With Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Duran, and Yoshida, the Sox have been gerrymandering playing time for five players in four spots. Yoshida has often been squeezed. Still, while he acknowledges that his role is “kind of a challenge,” he recognizes how the 5-for-4 dynamic can benefit his team.

“Throughout the season, some guys have bad days, some guys have good days. Whenever they put me in the lineup, I want to contribute,” Yoshida (hitting .310/.474/.414) said via translator. “I think in [those terms], it’s been working pretty well [and] we’re putting a lot of good guys out there.”

The game had to be decided late due to the dominance of Suarez and Tigers counterpart Casey Mize (6⅔ scoreless innings).

Suarez faced peril just once. In the game’s first inning, rookie Kevin McGonigle flicked a one-out single to left-center and Jahmai Jones smacked a liner off the Wall.

But Jones hit the ball so hard (108 miles per hour) that his sprint for second proved ill-advised, with Rafaela’s throw to Marcelo Mayer delivering the second out of the inning. The throw and tag (which resulted in an out only after a challenge of the initial safe ruling) was the first of several precisely executed defensive plays by the Sox.

“In games like that, there’s so many moments that dictate the game,” said Mayer. “In such close games, you need to execute the little things and honestly, be perfect. I feel like we were perfect tonight on defense.”

Suarez capitalized on the defensive support by fanning Dillon Dingler on a changeup to strand McGonigle on third.

Dingler’s lunging whiff was a harbinger. For the rest of the night, the Tigers were alternately confounded, flummoxed, and perplexed by the lefthander’s palette of sinkers, changeups, cutters, four-seamers, and curveballs. He retired 22 of the last 23 batters he faced, allowing just two hits (none after the first inning) and one walk while striking out four.

Suarez, however, was matched zero-for-zero by Mize, who baffled the Sox with an elegant display of velocity addition and subtraction in which he allowed three hits and one walk while punching out seven. Suarez understood the task presented by his foe.

“The mentality is to go out there and throw zeros and keep the game at zero, so that my teammates don’t have the pressure of being down in the game,” Suarez said via translator. “For me to throw zeros was huge.”

With the scoreless tie persisting, the two starters received no-decisions, leaving the outcome to the bullpens.

Aroldis Chapman in the ninth and Garrett Whitlock in the 10th stranded runners on third with two outs, buying time for the Sox to break through.

Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.