BOSTON (WHDH) - The Red Sox are playing their first home game of the season Friday, against the St. Louis Cardinals.
After opening the season with a seven-game road trip, the Red Sox are returning to Fenway Park for their 125th home opener. It’ll be their 114th at Fenway specifically.
Manager Alex Cora’s club is riding a two-game winning streak heading into Friday’s game.
It will be the first look for the Fenway faithful at a revamped roster, highlighted by newcomers Garrett Crochet, Alex Bregman, and rookie sensation Kristian Campbell.
The Red Sox will honor Luis Tiant during pregame ceremonies and welcome members of the 1975 team to mark the 50th anniversary of their AL pennant.
“Everybody’s excited about the home opener, you know, it’s going to be a beautiful day. It’s going to be a packed house. We just played a really good team in Baltimore, we won the series,” Cora said at a news conference Friday morning.
Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story also expressed his excitement.
“You see the big American flag on the monster. It’s pretty unique, you don’t get that anywhere else, I feel like, so it’s just the energy of the day, the excitement going on around the park. You can just feel it, man, it’s like college football,” Story said.
Campbell spoke about experiencing his first-ever Fenway home opener as a Red Sox player.
“Just look around, enjoy the moment. I did it a couple times at two other stadiums, so this is my first time in Boston doing it. I bet it’ll be different for sure,” Campbell said.
While he’s not starting Friday, Crochet also is getting ready to greet the hometown fans for the first time since signing with the Sox.
“You can never imagine stepping into a new clubhouse being an easy thing, but going back to FanFest, I really felt at home right away, and just felt the embrace of Boston, in general,” Crochet said.
“With AC and the rest of the coaching staff and all of my teammates here, this is something that I felt ‘at home’ with right away. They made the immediate impression on me, and I couldn’t be more excited to be donning this uniform for the next several years,” he continued.
Walker Buehler is on the mound for the opener of the three-game series with the Cardinals, marking the second start in Red Sox uniform for the two-time World Series Champion.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)