J.D. & Co. bring the noise in Sox's rout of O's

BOSTON -- Who said there would be no real noise at Fenway Park without fans?

On Opening Night, the sound of baseballs being barreled up by the potent Boston bats was unmistakable.

The Red Sox -- pent up as they were from a season delayed by four months -- quickly made up for lost time by battering the Orioles, 13-2, in Friday's Game 1 of 60. They did it on the strength of eight doubles, a new franchise record for Opening Day.

• Box score

Even without the great Mookie Betts, who is now making his home in Los Angeles, Boston has a whole lot of offense.

"We have a good lineup. Obviously we lost Mook, which is a big bat," said designated hitter J.D. Martinez. "But if you look at what this lineup is very capable of doing, it can be scary."

The biggest noise-maker on Friday? Newly-installed No. 2 hitter Martinez, who reached base in his first four plate appearances, which included an RBI double to left in the third, a two-run double to right in the fourth and a hard single up the middle in the fifth.

In case you haven't heard, Martinez enjoys using the whole field.

It was Martinez's first time batting second since 2016 when he was with the Tigers, and just his 34th start there in his career. In his first two seasons with Boston, Martinez hit exclusively in the third and fourth slots. Judging by the way things went on Friday, you should get used to seeing Martinez in the two-hole.

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"I mean, I'm not complaining," Martinez said. "Came up twice with the bases loaded. So far, so good. But definitely different, that's for sure. Not used to it. I feel like I was always getting ready to hit. I feel like I was always on the verge of coming up. I'm not really used to getting six at-bats in a night."

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If Martinez took the starring role, he had a strong supporting cast.

José Peraza had a monster debut for the Sox, going 4-for-5 with two RBI doubles. Jackie Bradley Jr. (3-for-4) scored three runs and roped two doubles. Kevin Pillar (3-for-5, 3 RBIs) also made a strong first impression.

"It was a great showing by the offense tonight," said Bradley. "Great showing by the pitching staff. It was pretty good defensively as well. The guys really got it done tonight."

It was also a fine way for Ron Roenicke to rack up his first win as Boston's manager.

"I knew our offense was good and we've been swinging the bat well, but obviously you don't expect them to come out [like that]," Roenicke said. "In my mind, I'm not expecting we're going to score that many runs. But guys continue to swing the bats great and we got the good pitching. To start like this, for me, it's kind of nice that the first one goes like this."

The Red Sox erupted for four runs (including four doubles) in the bottom of the third and then belted Baltimore around with a six-spot in the fourth to make it a 10-0 game.

Everyone knows the Sox can hit. Yet there are boundless questions about the pitching staff.

As shortstop Xander Bogaerts put it before the game, "Honestly, we don't have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball."

But in a shortened season, the Sox just might be able to sock their way to contender status, particularly with the news that the playoffs have been expanded to eight teams in each league.

Nathan Eovaldi, making his first Opening Day start, did give Boston a commanding pitching performance in this one. In six breezy innings, the righty scattered five hits and a run, walking one and striking out four.

With such a barrage of offense at his back, Eovaldi cruised.

"Having this offense is awesome," said Eovaldi. "Every game, they go out there and they're going to put runs up on the board. You just compete. Get outs as fast as possible. That's what I was trying to do today, go out there, put the guys back in the dugout and let them use their bats. They came through in the third, fourth with a ton of runs out there."