Wilyer Abreu homers twice as Red Sox beat Rangers, 5-2, on Opening Day

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on Mar 27, 2025

Published in Baseball

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Wilyer Abreu does not look like a guy who missed most of spring training with a gastrointestinal illness.

The second-year outfielder stole the show on Thursday, going 3 for 3 with two home runs and four RBIs to lead the Red Sox past the Texas Rangers, 5-2, on Opening Day. The exclamation point came in the top of the ninth, when he smashed a 1-0 slider from Rangers reliever Luke Jackson 394 feet into the home bullpen for the go-ahead three-run home run.

Abreu’s decisive shot came after Trevor Story worked a nine-pitch walk with one out and Kristian Campbell followed with his first career MLB hit, a bouncing single that third baseman Josh Jung couldn’t handle.

Garrett Crochet’s first start as a member of the Red Sox could best be described as good, not great. The left-hander struggled with his command early, walking two of the first five batters he faced before serving up a double and an RBI single to Kevin Pillar in the second, but after that he largely settled down.

Crochet retired the next eight batters he faced before allowing another run on a single and an RBI double by Kyle Higashioka in the fourth. He ultimately allowed two runs over five innings, allowing five hits and two walks while striking out four. Crochet’s fastball averaged 96.4 mph and he drew 15 whiffs, including nine with his cutter.

Meanwhile, former Red Sox great Nathan Eovaldi, making his fifth Opening Day start and second with the Rangers, put on a show for the hometown fans. Eovaldi tied a Rangers club record with nine strikeouts on Opening Day, matching Lance Lynn’s performance against the Rockies in 2020, and limited the Red Sox to just three hits over six innings.

The only one who could seemingly touch Eovaldi was Abreu.

Abreu singled off Eovaldi his first time up and came around to score on Ceddanne Rafaela’s subsequent RBI groundout. His second time up in the top of the fifth Abreu smoked a solo shot to deep right field, tying the game at 2-2.

Both balls were crushed, with the single measuring 110.8 mph off the bat and the home run 108.7.

Abreu later drew a nine-pitch walk in the seventh against Rangers reliever Robert Garcia, who also walked Campbell, marking the rookie’s first time on base in an MLB game. Nothing came of that rally, but Garrett Whitlock made sure the game remained knotted, holding the Rangers to one single over two dominant innings of relief in his first appearance since undergoing internal brace surgery on his right elbow last spring.

Aroldis Chapman followed with a scoreless eighth, highlighted by a dominant strikeout of Rangers star Corey Seager to lead off the inning, and after Abreu put Boston ahead in the top of the ninth, Justin Slaten came on to close things out for the save.

Rafael Devers endured a tough day at the plate, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts against Eovaldi. Alex Bregman went 0 for 4 in his Red Sox debut, and Campbell finished 1 for 3 with a walk.

The Red Sox (1-0) and Rangers (0-1) will do it again Friday. Tanner Houck will face off against Jack Leiter, and first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET.