Cavaliers shooting guard J.R. Smith came out firing against the Milwaukee Bucks and on the way to his record-setting performance, the veteran sharpshooter scored a team-high 21 points in a 109-80 win at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The same was true of David Price, who pitched six strong innings in his Red Sox debut.
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The Red Sox were in control of the game for most of the afternoon, though it was Cleveland that first threatened to score.
The Red Sox remain in Cleveland for the second game of their opening series.
“He’s still got it, absolutely, ” David Price said of his new teammate after earning the win. In the top of the 9th, David Ortiz got his first official homerun in the books on his farewell tour when he hit a 2 run bomb.
“When the light goes on”, Ortiz said, “Papi goes on”.
October 20, 2004: Ortiz crushes a two-run home run in Game 7 of the ALCS to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the first inning en route to a 10-3 victory and a trip to the World Series for the first time since 1986. Cleveland did all of their damage in the fourth inning, when they managed four singles off Price, including an RBI grounder from catcher Yan Gomes that deflected off the outstretched glove of a diving Dustin Pedroia.
Ortiz’ home run in the ninth added a two-run cushion that eliminated the save from the debut of closer Craig Kimbrel, but it did not diminish the moment. It was his fifth career home run on Opening Day – the most of any active player – and 504th, tying Eddie Murray for 26th all time.
With one out, Ortiz ripped a pitch from Trevor Bauer over the wall in right.
“It is different a little bit”, Indians manager Terry Francona said.
“He’s very unsafe”, Francona said of Ortiz. “I wish he would’ve retired this season”. It’s worth noting, too, that until the final week of spring training, every one of his hits was a single and his lone homer didn’t come until, literally, his final at-bat in the final game.
After Price got out of the second inning is when things started to get going for Boston. He’s extremely fast, so I know out of the box he was thinking triple. He’s saving it all for the season. “Yeah, it’s cold out there, but both teams dealt with it. I don’t want to say that I didn’t execute pitches because it was cold, I think there are other things that go into it besides the weather”.
While Boston has had a rough last couple of years since winning the 2013 World Series over the St. Louis Cardinals, if there is a team that can put it all together for one magical season, the Red Sox have been that team for the last decade plus.
Lineup interlopers Brock Holt and Shaw Travis combined for four hits, a run scored and an RBI.
Monday’s opener was postponed before the gates opened in Progressive Field, where the wind chill dipped temperatures into the upper teens.
So Boston Red Sox fans should take comfort whenever they see David Price’s name listed as being scheduled to take the mound. In his last 10, Carlos Carrasco was 4-4 with a 2.48 ERA and.
Boston’s win was also meaningful to manager John Farrell, who left the club last season after he was diagnosed with cancer.
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Polanco had agreed to a $35 million, five-year contract earlier in the day. 500 and 4.5 games out of the second wild-card spot last season.
