Red Sox Win Season Opener In Cleveland

CLEVELAND (AP) - David Price struck out 10 and won his
weather-delayed debut for Boston and David Ortiz hit a two-run
homer, leading the Red Sox to a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Indians,
who were forced to push their season opener back because of wintry
conditions.

Price gave up two runs and five hits in six innings, giving the Red
Sox and immediate payoff after they signed the left-hander to a
seven-year, $217 million contract. Boston is hoping Price can push
them back into contention in the AL East after the club finished
last in the division the past two seasons.

Ortiz began his farewell season with a bang, connecting for his
504th career homer in the ninth. Big Papi tied Hall of Famer Eddie
Murray for 26th place on the career list. Ortiz also doubled.

Boston's Mookie Betts homered in the second off Corey Kluber,
tagged with a loss in the opener for the second straight year.
Cleveland's ace gave up four runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Monday's opener was postponed before the gates opened in
Progressive Field, where the wind chill dipped temperatures into
the upper teens. It was warmer - 34 degrees - and sunny when Kluber
fired his first pitch to Betts, but there also thousands of empty
seats as many fans couldn't afford to take a second day off work.

Price didn't disappoint Red Sox fans, who envision him turning
Boston back into a power. He didn't allow a hit until the fourth
and improved to 10-2 with a 2.24 ERA in 14 starts against Cleveland.

Boston's win was also meaningful to manager John Farrell, who left
the club last season after he was diagnosed with cancer.

The Red Sox broke a 2-2 tie in the sixth on Brock Holt's RBI single
and Kluber's wild pitch.

Betts struck out leading off the first, but Boston's right fielder
didn't miss one of Kluber's sliders in the third.

After Jackie Bradley singled, Betts connected on a 1-1 pitch,
driving it into the left-field bleachers to give Price an early 2-0
cushion. It was the second straight season Betts has homered in the
opener. He hit a solo shot last season in a win at Philadelphia.

The Indians scored twice to tie it in the fourth off Price, who
coasted through three innings and was threatening to turn his
initial outing for Boston into something historic. He struck out
six and easily handled a Cleveland lineup missing its best hitter,
injured outfielder Michael Brantley.

Yan Gomes hit an RBI single and Marlon Byrd added a sacrifice fly
for Cleveland in the fourth.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: RHP Clay Buchholz, who started Boston's opener in 2015,
begins his 10th season with the Red Sox. He's the longest tenured
member of the team's staff. Buchholz went 7-7 last season, but made
only 18 starts because of a strained elbow.

Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco will face the Red Sox for the first
time since 2011. The 29-year-old finished last season with at least
five strikeouts in 18 straight outings, the longest streak by a
Cleveland pitcher since Hall of Famer Bob Feller did it 23 times in
1946.