While shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was undergoing elbow surgery likely to keep him out until the All-Star break, the Red Sox bats also seemed to be under anesthesia yesterday afternoon during the season-opening game. Boston lost its opener for the first time since 1996 in an eleven-inning contest against the Baltimore Orioles by a score of 2-1.
After ten and a half innings of offensive stalemate, Orioles second baseman Jerry Hairston doubled off of Derek Lowe to open the eleventh and scored on Brady Anderson's single to center. Baltimore's Ryan Kohlmeier, who came in to pitch in the top of the eleventh, received his first major league win.
The beleaguered Sox squad failed to capitalize on a solid performance by ace Pedro Martinez, who allowed only four hits in seven innings. Martinez tallied only six strikeouts, however, and did not appear his usual dominant self.
Former Cy Young award winner Pat Hentgen had a strong start for Baltimore, scattering four hits and six strikeouts across 8 2-3 innings. Boston's only run came off a Trot Nixon homer in the fourth inning, as the hitters seemed to have left their power down on the beaches in Florida.
With Boston veteran John Valentin injured and infielders Mike Lansing, Jose Offerman, and Dante Bichette keeping the bench warm, the Sox infield staged a comedy rather than a baseball game. Rookie third-baseman Shea Hillenbrand was saved from an error in the fifth inning when a baserunning mistake by Baltimore's Melvin Mora gave him time to recover the ball and double Mora off second, while a misplayed ball in the sixth inning allowed the first Baltimore run to score. With Hairston on third, second-baseman Chris Stynes called right-fielder Trot Nixon off a ball that he easily could have caught and instead let it drop for a bloop RBI-single by Oriole Mike Bordick.
It seemed as if two generations were playing against each other at Camden Yards yesterday, as the aging Orioles faced a youthful and untested Red Sox team. Boston might be a better team than Baltimore on paper, but its failure to get a win out of Martinez yesterday exemplifies the many problems the team has faced in recent weeks.
The loss of Nomar takes quite a bit of punch out of Boston's line-up, and Manny Ramirez, who started at designated hitter yesterday, has a hamstring injury that may limit his effectiveness during the first few weeks of the season.
Even worse, however, is that team feuds have brought storm clouds to the clubhouse atmosphere and are threatening the unity of the Red Sox. Carl Everett was fined an undisclosed amount and suspended for a spring training game after he missed the team bus again last week, and there has been widespread speculation that Everett's days with the Sox are numbered.
Boston manager Jimy Williams has always had difficulty getting along with Everett, while the rift between Williams and General Manager Dan Duquette turned into a gorge in the last week. When announcing his lineup last Saturday, Williams blamed Duquette for not putting together a good enough team, and the Red Sox skipper may find himself following Everett out the door.
The only person affiliated with the Sox to have a good day was team doctor Bill Morgan, whose operation to fix a split tendon in Garciaparra's wrist went off without a hitch. Garciaparra has been hurt since September of 1999, when he was hit by a pitch from Baltimore's Al Reyes, and the problem intensified during spring training this year. At first, he hoped the injury would heal by immobilizing the wrist in a cast, but he resorted to surgery yesterday. Craig Grebeck will be Boston's shortstop in his absence.
