Red Sox halt skid, top Padres 5-2 in home opener. Here's how
· Yahoo Sports
BOSTON – Friday afternoon finally offered the Red Sox a chance to breathe.
Boston was unpacked, rested and ready after waiting the better part of two months to start the 2026 season here. Spring training drudgery and a disappointing six-game road trip to begin the campaign were all but forgotten during this first time out at Fenway Park.
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Sonny Gray delivered six veteran innings. Willson Contreras and Marcelo Mayer transformed what had been a popgun attack against the Reds and Astros into something a little more dangerous. Greg Weissert, Justin Slaten and Aroldis Chapman dominated out of a bullpen absent Garrett Whitlock due to paternity leave.
The Padres were the unfortunate victims in front of this sellout crowd of 36,233 fans. The Red Sox snapped a tie thanks to a pair of big swings in the bottom of the sixth inning, closing out a 5-2 victory over San Diego on April 3.
“I was looking forward to being back here,” Gray said. “I think that’s also something we all feel good about – just being back here.
“We were on the road for a long time. Spring training, then you open on the road – you're living out of a suitcase for a while.”
Boston put forth a month of uneven performances in Florida and followed by dropping five of its first six games in Cincinnati and Houston. The sweep it suffered against Yordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and a familiar postseason opponent over the past decade was a lopsided one. The Astros dished out a combined 23-6 slapping over three days at Daiken Park, a sequence of events that left a sour tone into this 115th home opener here.
“This city’s amazing,” Mayer said to NESN postgame. “They showed out like they always do. It’s good to be back in the win column.”
Gray worked four 1-2-3 innings and navigated around a leadoff single in the top of the third. His only trouble spot came in the fifth – Miguel Andujar drove a liner to deep center that Ceddanne Rafaela lost in the sun and played into a one-out triple. Gavin Sheets followed with an RBI single and Luis Campusano came through two batters later by smoking an RBI double off the wall in deep left-center.
“It’s a team effort for sure,” Gray said. “But I do think it’s a starting pitcher’s job to come out, attack, put zeroes on the board and give your team a chance. That’s just kind of what my mindset was today.”
The Red Sox staked Gray to a 2-0 lead and handed him the decision with a three-run rally in the deciding inning. Contreras smashed a first-pitch fastball from former Bishop Hendricken standout Michael King over everything in left to make it a 3-2 game. Wilyer Abreu followed with a single through the right side and Mayer greeted reliever Wandy Peralta by lifting his first pitch to the visiting bullpen in deep right.
“I knew he had a good sinker and a good slider,” Mayer said. “Just trying to see something up – something I could do damage on early in the count.”
Rafaela and Caleb Durbin – after a smattering of boos during pregame introductions – each sent RBI singles to center field to put Gray in front early. It was a needed breakthrough for Durbin, who was riding an 0-for-34 slump dating to the close of the 2025 regular season with the Brewers. That included 19 hitless at-bats to begin his Boston career after a February trade involving six players and future considerations.
“Good to drive in a run there,” Durbin said. “Obviously we’re scrapping for runs right now. Just good to come through for the guys.”
The Red Sox allowed just four hits and played error-free baseball, the blueprint laid out by chief baseball officer Craig Breslow after losing Alex Bregman to the Cubs in free agency. Boston cut its strikeout total to just eight after going down with alarming regularity during the road swing. The Red Sox avoided what would have been a first start of 1-6 or worse since the 2011 season, when they staggered out of the gate with six straight defeats.
“The first time through it didn’t look great,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Today (Gray) was really good. That’s what we expect – go out there, pitch, play decent defense and timely hitting.”
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Final score from Boston Red Sox home opener vs. San Diego Padres