Padres 3, Red Sox 2: This lineup, man…
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - APRIL 04: Masataka Yoshida #7 of the Boston Red Sox looks on after striking out in the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres at Fenway Park on April 04, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images) | Getty Images For the eighth game in a row to kick off the 2026 MLB season, the Boston Red Sox failed to score more than five runs. They are the only team in baseball that has yet to do so this season.
Get used to this. The lineup isn’t going to be this anemic all season long — and it certainly won’t be bitterly cold with an easterly wind whipping off the harbor all season long. But the 2026 Red Sox just aren’t going to scare many opposing pitchers.
Yes, there is Roman Anthony. And in in the fifth inning he laced a triple to put the game-tying run on third base. The problem for Anthony and the Red Sox, though, is that there were already two outs and the man hitting behind him doesn’t belong near the top of an MLB lineup.
It’s now been six years since Trevor Story was a real asset on offense. And in the key at-bat of the middle innings with Anthony 90 feet from home, he weakly grounded out to second. On the pitching side of things, Connelly Early wasn’t that sharp today.
He walked four batters in just four innings and spent a lot of the game nibbling around the edges. But he limited hard contact, struck out Fernando Tatis twice, and kept his team in the game, making him one of the few Red Sox players who did his job today. Three Studs Willson Contreras , 1-4 R, K He scored the first run of the game and blasted a ball that would’ve been an extra base hit if Fernando Tatis didn’t cover more ground than any other right fielder I’ve ever seen.