JDM Gives Red Sox First Walkoff Hit When Trailing In 12th Inning (Or Later) In 54 Years

Rays    - 002 001 000 011 - 5  8  0
Red Sox - 100 000 011 012 - 6 10  0

After a two-out wild pitch put runners at second and third, J.D. Martinez doubled them home for a 6-5 come-from-behind victory in 12 innings. 

It was Boston's first walkoff hit when trailing in the 12th inning or later since Jose Tartabull's two run single on April 29, 1967 beat the Kansas City Athletics 11-10 in 15 innings. And it was the Red Sox's first walkoff hit when trailing in any extra inning since April 13, 2001, when Manny Ramirez beat Fruitbat and the MFY 3-2 (10) with two-run single, aided by a Dumbo passedballa.

JDM (who is 10-for-21 and now has four straight multi-hit games) has at least one extra-base hit in each of the first five games. Four other Red Sox have done that:

Jackie Jensen       1954
Fave Throneberry    1955
Jose Offerman       1999
David Ortiz         2005

Red Sox pitchers have not given up a home run in the first five games. It's the longest season-opening streak since 1992 (six games).

It was the first time (after 3,626 regular-season games) the Rays lost a game in which they scored in multiple extra innings.

Vince Velasquez is the first Phillies reliever in franchise history to give up four earned runs but no hits.  But three starters did it: Lefty Weinert (June 24, 1923), Hal Carlson (June 6, 1925), and Pat Combs (June 26, 1991).

The Athletics are off to an 0-6 start for the second time in franchise history. The 1916 Philadelphia Athletics started 0-6 and finished 36-117. (From June 27 to August 8, they went 2-41. Ouch.)

The Reds set a team record with 46 runs in their first five games of a season, topping their previous record of 44 (1976). The last team to score as many as 46 runs in their first five games was the 2001 Rockies (48).

Akil Baddoo is the fifth Tigers player to have a hit and an RBI in the first three games of his career:

Dale Alexander (1929), Don Ross (1938), Johnny Lipon (1942), and Ron Cash (1973).

Earlier

Garrett Whitlock made his major league debut on Sunday against the Orioles. He is the only Red Sox pitcher to have allowed no runs and no walks and strike out five or more batters in his debut.

Nathan Eovaldi became only the third Red Sox pitcher to allow one or no runs over five-plus innings in consecutive Opening Day starts. He joins Frank Sullivan (1955-56) and Pedro Martinez (2000-01).

Marwin Gonzalez is the first player in the modern era (since 1900) to start each of a team's first four games of a season at four different fielding positions (G1: LF, G2: 2B, G3: 3B, G4: 1B). In the Red Sox's first 120 years, no player started even the first three games of a season at three different (non-DH) positions. but it has happened twice in 2021: Gonzalez and Alex Verdugo (G1: CF, G2: RF, G3: LF).