By Steve Keating
April 10 (Reuters) – The Boston Red Sox rallied past Toronto
4-2 on Monday to avoid a second successive 0-4 start to a season
and bring the smiles back to the faces of the new team
management.
With Fenway Park preparing to celebrate its 100th
anniversary later this week, an anxious Red Sox Nation was
already poised to push the panic button after watching their
team suffer a three-game sweep at the hands of the Detroit
Tigers.
The alarm bells were ringing even louder on Monday as Boston
trailed the Blue Jays 2-1 entering the ninth and appeared ready
to start the campaign with four consecutive losses for the
second straight season.
But a ninth inning rally, sparked by a Dustin Pedroia
leadoff double and a go-ahead RBI single from Ryan Sweeney, gave
new coach Bobby Valentine and general manager Ben Cherington
their first taste of success in their new jobs.
“We’ve been trying our butts off to get that first win and
we got it and glad we were able to get Ben his first win as
general manager and first win as a team,” Valentine told
reporters. “Pressure is not being prepared and I think we are
prepared.
“Probably the only thing we weren’t prepared to do was close
out a game but I think we’re fine.”
After a horrific September collapse cost the Red Sox a
playoff spot last year and triggered an off-season house
cleaning, Boston’s slump carried over into the current campaign.
A ninth inning meltdown by the Blue Jays spoiled the opening
night party for the sold-out crowd of 48,474 at the Rogers
Centre.
The fans began the game with high hopes and a rousing
ovation but watched it end in disappointment and boos when
closer Sergio Santos served up three runs on two hits in a messy
two-thirds of an inning of work that included three walks and a
wild pitch.
“We’ve had some tough times at the end of last year and the
this year the first couple of games but you just have to stay
with it and grind it out,” said Pedroia, who also contributed a
solo home run in the sixth.
“There are 162 games and if you stay with it and stay
positive we’re going to be alright.
“We’re going to come out every day and play hard to get a
win. We had a couple of tough ones in Detroit but we are going
to bounce back and play hard every single night.
“This early in the season everyone has nerves going, it’s
hard to settle down and find your rhythm.”
The day began with American League East powerhouses the New
York Yankees and Red Sox languishing at the bottom of the
division and the Baltimore Orioles perched at the top with an
unblemished 3-0.
But after a topsy-turvy start to the new season, the
baseball universe began to return to normal as both Red Sox and
Yankees claimed maiden wins, New York handing the Orioles their
first loss 6-2.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; editing by Amlan
Chakraborty)
