Rough Red Sox debut for Corey Kluber, as Orioles escape with 10-9 win on Opening Day
BOSTON -- Red Sox manager Alex Cora opted to let Chris Sale take in Opening Day as a spectator this year, instead tabbing veteran right-hander Corey Kluber to take the mound for the first game of the year.
It didn't work out too well.
Kluber didn't make it out of the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles, struggling to hit the zone and struggling to keep the ball in the ballpark during that limited time.
After striking out the first batter of the game, Kluber left a 2-0 pitch over the plate. Adley Rutschman crushed that offering, sending it 402 feet to right field to give Baltimore an early 1-0 lead.
Kluber would end up issuing two more walks in the first inning, driving his pitch count up to 28 in the opening frame.
Kluber retired the Orioles in order in the second inning, picking up his third and fourth strikeouts in the process. He allowed two hits in the third, though one of those was immediately made harmless when Rutschman got gunned down trying to stretch a single into a double.
In the fourth, though, the wheels came off, as Kluber issued a leadoff walk to Gunnar Henderson on five pitches before hanging an 84 mph pitch at the belt to Ramon Urias. The third baseman sent that pitch high over the Green Monster for a 387-foot, two-run bomb to give Baltimore a 3-1 lead.
Kluber got the first out of the inning after that but then gave up back-to-back hits before walking Cedric Mullins to load the bases. That walk came after Kluber had Mullins in a 1-2 count, with Kluber missing the zone on three consecutive pitches.
That walk -- Kluber's fourth -- ended his afternoon, as Cora made the call to the bullpen. Zack Kelly allowed two of those inherited runners to score, both of which were charged to Kluber.
That certainly didn't make for a strong stat line from Kluber in his Red Sox debut: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO, 2 HR.
The four walks are a bit of a rarity for Kluber, as he issued four walks just once last year in 31 starts for the Rays and just once in his 16 starts in 2021 for the Yankees. The short outing, though, wasn't altogether out of the ordinary, as Kluber made five starts of four innings or less last year and seven of those the year before.
The outing was, of course, not quite what Kluber or the Red Sox had hoped for when envisioning a start to the new season.
Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the bullpen didn't fare much better, with Ryan Brasier (three runs allowed in one inning) and Kaleb Ort (two runs allowed in two innings) allowed the Orioles to hit double-digits on the scoreboard.
The Boston bats fought back, though, and with some assistance from some shaky Baltimore fielding, the Red Sox got the tying run to second base and the winning run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
That came after Masatake Yoshida hit what should have been a game-ending double play, but shortstop Jorge Mateo skipped his throw to first base, allowing a run to score and allowing Yoshida to take second. That brought Adam Duvall to the plate, but the newcomer struck out on just three pitches to end the threat and the game, with the Orioles escaping with a 10-9 victory.
The Red Sox and Orioles have Friday off, before resuming their series on Saturday.
