\n\tBoston, MA \u2013 As fans prepared for the home opener between their beloved Boston Red Sox and the visiting San Diego Padres, there was a consistent feeling shared between them.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYou have to win today.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe sentiment, shared between several fans who were waiting in anticipation for the game at the Section 10 podcast pregame show, was not surprising. The Red Sox returned home with a 1-5 record after the first week of the season, including a three-game sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros. Everyone, from pundits to the players, was growing impatient despite being just six games into the campaign, which can be traced back to the team’s rollercoaster offseason.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s clear [Craig] Breslow had a plan for what he wanted. But it\u2019s also obvious it didn\u2019t go how he wanted. You lose [Alex] Bregman and replace him with [Caleb] Durbin. Now after saying you wanted to add power, you go and switch it to [the team] being all about run prevention,\u201d one fan passionately said when asked about their thoughts on the team’s direction. Others in the area agreed, wondering why the team didn\u2019t make a bigger push for a player like Pete Alonso<\/a> or how Masataka Yoshida<\/a> remained with the team despite the outfield already having a logjam for playing time.\n<\/p>\n \n\tDespite the tough start to the season, though, there’s no lack of\u00a0belief in the team.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s kind of disappointing, but at the same time it\u2019s only been six games. They still have over 150 games to go and now they\u2019re back at Fenway. Hopefully they can get some momentum,\u201d another fan shared.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cGarbage, but garbage can always be taken out to the curb, and you can start clean and fresh. Have to start playing better, there\u2019s just been a lot of bad starts happening at the same time. I\u2019m not worried \u2014 there\u2019s a lot of baseball left to be played.”\n<\/p>\n \n\tOne player who has struggled mightily in the early going is offseason trade acquisition Caleb Durbin<\/a>, the infielder entering the day as the only qualified hitter in the majors without a hit. Fans were growing impatient with him, and it showed as some booed the infielder upon hitting into a double play in his first at-bat that he didn\u2019t immediately run on. The play in question resulted in what looked to be a foul ball that went a grand total of one foot in front of the plate that the ump signaled was actually fair. During his next time up, fans were playfully teasing him from the stands.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAre you a man or a mouse, Durbin? Prove them wrong, Durbin,\u201d one fan could be heard yelling.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAnother joined in, claiming that \u201cIKF [Isiah Kiner-Falefa] will replace you mid-game if you don\u2019t get a hit.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tDurbin\u2019s second at-bat was more productive, as he hit a single to drive in Jarren Duran<\/a> and give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe entire team entered the day under fire, and they responded to the call. Starter Sonny Gray<\/a> delivered in his Fenway debut, tossing six dominant innings. Allowing just two runs on four hits, he struck out three and didn\u2019t walk a batter as he allowed the Red Sox offense a chance to finally break through in the bottom of the sixth inning.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAnd break through they did, crushing two home runs in the frame and handing the Red Sox a 5-2 lead. The bullpen, led by Greg Weissert<\/a>, Justin Slaten<\/a> and Aroldis Chapman<\/a>, tossed three scoreless innings as the Red Sox won their home opener and snapped their five-game losing streak.\n<\/p>\n \n\tFans cheered with excitement but weren\u2019t ready to say things were turned around just yet. One fan pointed out that the team continued to make the same mistakes that have been issues the past few seasons, while another reminded everyone that \u201cIt\u2019s only one game; love seeing them win, but they have to do this consistently,\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tA loss in the subsequent contest certainly didn’t help to rattle any nerves, but the friendly confines of Fenway have clearly woken this team up from their early season slumber. Hopefully, the rest of the homestand will prove just as productive as the first game against the Padres.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boston, MA \u2013 As fans prepared for the home opener between their beloved Boston Red Sox and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[5,141,48,2542,4,89,2543,1587],"class_list":{"0":"post-663711","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-red-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-red-sox","11":"tag-bostonredsox","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-red-sox","14":"tag-redsox","15":"tag-sonny-gray"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116349288615200358","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}