One multi-run inning and four hits were all the San Diego Padres could muster as the Boston Red Sox got a pair of home runs in the sixth inning to win their home opener 5-2 on Friday afternoon at Fenway Park.
Gavin Sheets had a pair of hits and an RBI single in the fifth inning, and Xander Bogaerts was given a standing ovation prior to his first at bat of the game, but San Diego (2-5) couldn’t manage much else against Boston (2-5) starter Sonny Gray.
"That's natural for every hitter to hit line drives and not get a hit, and then look at your average on the scoreboard and want to press a little bit, but we're got to keep preaching to them that they're swinging well, they're hitting the ball hard and that eventually they're going to fall," manager Craig Stammen said.
Michael King had scattered five hits through the first five innings, but gave up the go-ahead home run to Wilson Contreras on a sinker that stayed out over the heart of the plate with a man gone in the sixth. The San Diego starter would also give up a hit to Wilyer Abreu before ending his afternoon with a swinging strikeout by Caleb Durbin.
King threw 81 pitches through 5 2/3 innings of work, finishing with seven hits and four earned runs allowed alongside five strikeouts and a walk. Wandy Peralta allowed the inherited runner to score when Marcelo Mayer turned on his first low-and-in sinker and hit a two-run home run to right center despite a leaping effort at the wall by Fernando Tatis Jr.
"He pitched pretty good today. It felt like the end of the fifth (there were) a couple hard-hit balls, six inning har-hit balls, then we felt like we had a matchup that was better in our favor against (Mayer)," Stammen said. "It ended up not being that, just a case of baseball."
After just one hit through the first four innings, the Padres got a break in the fifth when Miguel Andujar hit a fly ball to center that Ceddanne Rafaela misplayed. The Red Sox center fielder couldn’t get a glove on it, which Andujar legged out for a triple.
Sheets then followed up with his second single of the day to drive in the first run of the inning. He came around to score the game-tying run when Luis Campusano crunched a two-out double off the Green Monster in left-center field for his first hit of the season and first since 2024 on the last day of August.
"It was good to see Campy make a really good swing there, hit one hard and off the wall, so it felt like we had it close and then we just let him get through the sixth," Stammen said.
Those were the only runs that Gray allowed to earn his first win, as he pitched six innings and allowed four hits with two earned runs while striking out three with no walks. Greg Weissert and Justin Slaten each threw clean innings with a strikeout before Aroldis Chapman closed the game out with a strikeout and a walk to earn his second save.
Boston had scored the first two runs of the game in the third and fourth innings, as Rafaela drove home Marcelo Mayer after a leadoff double. Then Jarren Duran led off with a double off King and came home on a two-out single by Durbin.
Jake Cronenworth helped King out with a spectacular play to end the fifth, laying out to snag a liner back up the middle by Trevor Story and then tagging second to get Roman Anthony before firing a seed to first for the double play.
Game two of the series will see San Diego send Randy Vásquez to the hill against lefty Connelly Early, with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m. at Fenway Park.
This story was updated at 2:20 p.m.