No Sweep for Sox

Harold Rivera
Photo: CBS Sports

Contributing Writer

Clay Buchholz looked phenomenal in his opening day start in Philadelphia. He was anything but that on Sunday night in New York. The right-hander allowed nine earned runs over 3.1 innings of work in a 14-4 loss to the Yankees.

It was a long night for Buchholz and the Sox from the start, as the Yankees came pounding with a seven-run first inning. Alex Rodriguez's three-run double was followed by a two-run homerun from Chase Headley. Stephen Drew followed Headley's long-ball with one of his own.

Buchholz calmed the storm for the next two innings but ran into trouble in the fourth, enough for John Farrell to pull the plug on the starter's outing. Farrell was forced to turn to his bullpen early, and used four of his relievers in the losing effort.

Hanley Ramirez led the offense for the Sox with his third homerun of the season. Xander Bogaerts contributed with a two-RBI double in the fourth inning. Bogaerts is batting an impressive .407 in the young season.

For the Yankees, Masahiro Tanaka looked much better this time around than he did in his Opening Day start against the Blue Jays. The second-year pitcher from Japan allowed four earned runs over five innings pitched.

The Red Sox will now head to Boston for their home opener on Monday afternoon against the Washington Nationals-a popular pick to win the World Series. Rick Porcello, who recently signed a 4-year extension worth $82.5 million, will take the mound for the Sox against right-hander Jordan Zimmerman. Porcello looked sharp in his first outing of the season against the Phillies, but Buchholz proved that to be an unreliable measure of success.

The Sox will avoid facing Max Scherzer in the three-game series, but they'll still see three tough starting pitchers in Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez.

First pitch for Monday's home opener is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.

Follow Harold Rivera on twitter @h_rivera21.