Red Sox earn 3-0 shutout win over Reds on Opening Day
Boston rode a dominant pitching staff and clutch late hitting to victory on the road in Cincinnati.
The Boston Red Sox are off to the kind of start they needed for 2026.
Garrett Crochet pitched six shutout innings and the bullpen did the rest, as the Sox waited out the Cincinnati Reds' pitching staff before scratching three late runs across in a 3-0 Opening Day win at Great American Ballpark. Ceddanne Rafaela drove in the game's first run in the top of the seventh inning for the only offense the Red Sox needed.
Crochet had allowed just one hit and one walk through his first five innings, before the Reds worked him into a bases-loaded jam with one out in the bottom of the sixth. The Red Sox ace responded by striking out the next two batters to get out of it unscathed. Crochet struck out a total of eight over his six scoreless frames. The bullpen combined for three more shutout innings while allowed just two baserunners, and closer Aroldis Chapman hurled a perfect 1-2-3 ninth for his first save of the season.
The Red Sox struggled over the first six innings of the game against Reds starter Andrew Abbott. It was when righty Pierce Johnson replaced the southpaw Abbott that the Red Sox finally got a spark. It came in the form of second baseman Marcelo Mayer, who didn't start due to the lefty-on-lefty matchup, cracking a leadoff double to set up Rafaela's clutch go-ahead RBI single.
Red Sox left fielder Roman Anthony batted leadoff and went 3-for-4 with a walk in his first career Opening Day start. The 21-year-old became the youngest Red Sox outfielder to start on Opening Day since Dwight Evans in 1973. Anthony, shortstop Trevor Story, and designated hitter Jarren Duran manufactured two insurance runs in the top of the ninth to supplement their dominant pitching.
Boston is going to need to win games on the mound, so it's hard to ask for a better start than Wednesday. Their offensive firepower falls off quickly through the lineup, but if they can get timely hitting from their key players, that should be enough to win a lot of games with this pitching staff.
