PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES:…Dropped each of the final two games of their season-opening series against the Reds at Great American Ball Park…Opened their 137th season as a member of the National League with a 5-4 win against the Reds Thursday afternoon.
BACK IN BOSTON: The Pirates continue their season-opening road trip with a three-game series beginning tonight against the Red Sox here at Fenway Park…This will be Pittsburgh’s third trip to Fenway during interleague play…Prior to their last visit in 2017, Pittsburgh’s only other series in Boston during interleague play came in 2005.
SERIES TIDBITS: Carlos Santana is hitting .313 (15-for-48) with three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 13 RBI in his last 12 games at Fenway Park…The Pirates are 8-10 all-time against the Red Sox during interleague play…Pittsburgh is 1-5 all-time at Fenway Park…The lone win came on June 18, 2005, in a 2-0 shutout when Rick White got the win in relief of starter Dave Williams (6.0ip) while Jose Mesa earned the save.
PLAYING THE FIELD: The Pirates have not made an error in each of the first three games of the 2023 season (96 total chances)…Prior to this year, the last time the Pirates did not commit a miscue in the first three games of the year came in 2004.
ABOUT TONIGHT’S STARTER: Johan Oviedo will make his season debut tonight in the opener of this three-game series against the Red Sox…The 25-year-old righthander struck out seven batters for the second straight appearance while allowing two runs in 5.0 innings in his last outing of the spring Tuesday against the Twins in Bradenton…He also posted a 2.93 ERA (15.1ip/5er) in his last four appearances (three starts) for the spring.
THE OUTFIELD: Andrew McCutchen started in right field yesterday after serving as Pittsburgh’s designated hitter in each of the first two games of the season… McCutchen ranks first among all active players in games played in the outfield… McCutchen also ranks seventh all-time in Pirates history in games played (1328) in the outfield behind Roberto Clemente (2370), Max Carey (2154), Paul Waner (2019), Lloyd Waner (1680), Fred Clarke (1431) and Bill Virdon (1376).
CENTER OF ATTENTION: Bryan Reynolds went deep for the first time this season Sunday afternoon while starting in center field for the first time in 2023…Since the beginning of last season, Reynolds’ 25 home runs as a center fielder are the fourth-most at that position in all of MLB behind Mike Trout (40), Aaron Judge (33) and Julio Rodriguez (29).
CRUZ’N RIGHT ALONG: Oneil Cruz enters today with a career-best 13-game on-base streak dating back to September 23 of last year…During his current 13-game streak, Cruz is hitting .365 (19-for-52) with three doubles, a homer and six RBI.
AGAINST THE JUNIOR CIRCUIT: Tonight begins a stretch of nine straight games against the American League for the Pirates…In addition to this three-game series in Boston, Pittsburgh’s first homestand of the 2023 campaign will feature three-game series against the Chicago White Sox and World-Champion Houston Astros.
AND THE WHIFF: Rich Hill struck out TJ Friedl in the fifth inning on Saturday for the 1300th strikeout of his big league career…Hill became the 94th left-handed pitcher all-time to reach the milestone.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – 24 – RHP JOHAN OVIEDO
JOHAN OVIEDO: The 25-year-old righthander is making his season debut tonight…Was acquired by the Pirates in a four-player trade with St. Louis last year on 8/2.
vs. BOSTON: Has never faced the Red Sox…Has gone 0-1 with a 2.89 ERA (9.1ip/3er) in three career appearances (two starts) during interleague play…His last outing against an American League team came last year on 9/2 against the Blue Jays when he started and tossed 3.0 scoreless innings in a 4-0 loss at PNC Park.
BOSTON RED SOX NOTES:
STATE OF THE SOX: The Red Sox won back-to-back games to take their opening 3-game series vs. BAL, 2-1. The Sox won their opening series for the 1st time since 2018 (3-1 series victory at TB from 3/29-4/1). Beginning with the 7th inning of Saturday’s game, the Red Sox have scored in 8 of their last 11 offensive innings, totaling 13 runs over that span.
NINE IS FINE: The Red Sox have scored 9+ runs in each of their first 3 games of a season for the 1st time in club history. The Sox are the 3rd team all-time to score 9+ runs in each of their first 3 games of a season, joining the 1978 Milwaukee Brewers and the 1976 Cincinnati Reds. The last time the Red Sox scored 9+ runs in any 3 consecutive games was from 7/25-27/2019.
HOT START SOX: The Red Sox have scored 27 runs over their first 3 games, 2nd-most in MLB (TEX-29 runs). The Sox have recorded at least 11 hits in each of their first 3 games for the 3rd time in club history (also 1954 and 1902). The Sox also rank in MLB’s top 5 in various offensive categories (see below).
RED SOX OFFENSIVE RANKINGS
Stat MLB Rank
27 runs……………………….. 2nd
36 hits………………………. T-4th
2 triples………………………. 2nd
14 extra-base hits…………. T-4th
Stat MLB Rank
.327 AVG………………………. 4th
.395 OBP…………………………… 4th
.564 SLG ………………………. 3rd
.959 OPS ……………………………..4th
YESTERDAY’S NEWS: The Red Sox beat the Orioles in the finale of their 3-game series yesterday, 9-5. Adam Duvall went 3-for-5 with 2 runs scored, 2 doubles, and 2 RBI. Masataka Yoshida (2-for-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB) hit an RBI ground out in the 1st inning to give the Sox a 1-0 lead and an RBI single in the 5th to take a 4-3 lead.
THE NEW GUYS: Eleven members of the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster or injured list were not in the organization during the 2022 season (see below). 6 players made their first career Opening Day roster: 1B Triston Casas, RHP Zack Kelly, RHP Kaleb Ort, RHP Josh Winckowski, C Connor Wong, and OF Masataka Yoshida.
RED SOX OFF-SEASON ACQUISITIONS
ON OPENING DAY ROSTER OR INJURED LIST
Player Acquired Date
LHP Joely Rodriguez Free Agent 11/23
RHP Chris Martin Free Agent 12/8
RHP Kenley Jansen Free Agent 12/13
OF Masataka Yoshida Free Agent 12/15
RHP Wyatt Mills Trade with KC 12/16
INF Justin Turner Free Agent 1/6
RHP Corey Kluber Free Agent 1/12
OF Raimel Tapia Minor League Free Agent 1/21
OF Adam Duvall Free Agent 1/24
INF Adalberto Mondesi Trade with KC 1/24
LHP Richard Bleier Trade with MIA 1/30
BATTLE TESTED: Of the 26 players on the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster, 8 have won a World Series title: Ryan Brasier (BOS), Rafael Devers (BOS), Chris Sale (BOS), Kiké Hernández (LAD), Kenley Jansen (LAD), Justin Turner (LAD), Adam Duvall (ATL), and Chris Martin (ATL). In addition, Masataka Yoshida won an Olympic Gold Medal (2021), a Japan Series title (2022), and a World Baseball Classic championship (2023).
DUV-ALL ABOUT IT: Adam Duvall was named AL Player of the Week for 3/31-4/2, batting .571 (8-for-14) with 6 runs scored and 8 RBI over his first 3 games with the Red Sox. He’s the 4th player in Red Sox history to record 8 RBI over the Sox’ first 3 games of the season, joining Brock Holt (2016), Ted Williams (1942), and Bobby Doerr (1941). Over the last 2 games, Adam Duvall is 7-for-10 with 3 doubles, a triple, 2 home runs, 5 runs scored, and 7 RBI, including a walk-off 2-run HR on Saturday. Duvall is the 1st player ever to record 6 extra-base hits
in their first 3 games with the Red Sox…He’s the 4th player in Red Sox history to record at least 6 extra-base hits and 7 RBI over any 2-game span (see below).
RED SOX WITH 6 XBH AND 7 RBI IN A 2-GAME SPAN Player XBH, RBI Month
Adam Duvall 3 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI April 2023
Jackie Bradley Jr. 4 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI August 2015
Fred Lynn 3 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 7 RBI May 1980
Lou Clinton 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 8 RBI July 1962
MACHO MAN: Masataka Yoshida became the first position player born in Japan to play for the Red Sox on Opening Day. Yoshida has hit from the 4th spot in the lineup in each of his first 3 career games…He is first player since Steve Yerkes in 1909 to bat 4th for the Red Sox in each of his first 3 MLB games.
SOX & BUCS: The Pirates are visiting Fenway Park for the 1st time since April 2017, when the Red Sox swept a 3-game series…The Sox have won each of their last 4 home games vs. PIT, beginning 6/19/2005. The Sox won a 3-game series at PNC Park from 8/16-18/2022.
AT THE HELM: Alex Cora returns for his 5th season as manager of the Red Sox (2018-19, ‘21-23)…He has led the Sox to a 364-287 (.559) record, the 3rd-highest win percentage in franchise history (min. 500 games managed). Cora ranks 9th in Red Sox history in managerial wins
(see table on right).
TONIGHT’S STARTER: 50 KUTTER CRAWFORD – RHP
Made the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster for the 2nd consecutive season.
In 5 Grapefruit League outings (4 starts), posted a 4.74 ERA and 1.46 WHIP (17.1 IP, 8 ER, 17 H, 19 SO, 5 BB).
Spent the majority of 2022 with the Red Sox, going 3-6 with a 5.47 ERA (47 ER/77.1 IP) in 21 outings (12 starts) over 3 stints…Led Sox rookies in innings pitched (77.1).
Became the 4th rookie pitcher since 2016 to make 12+ starts for BOS, joining Brian
Johnson (13 in 2018), Tanner Houck (13 in 2021), and Josh Winckowski (14 in 2022).
83 of his 95 professional outings have been starts, including 13 of his 22 with BOS.
