Baseball is here at last. I don’t know about anybody else, but I came close to overdosing on baseball last Sunday and Monday as the season opened.  

It all started out with the Yankees, with their highly rated, powerful new players playing what is supposed to be a punchless team, the Tampa Bay Rays, in Tropicana Field. The Yankees started their ace, Masahiro Tanaka and he quickly put some punch in the Rays lineup, giving up seven runs in 2 2/3 innings, including home runs to Evan Longoria and Logan Morrison.  

The Rays started Chris Archer, who was 9-19 last year but who I happen to think is one of the best four or five right handers in the American League. The Yankee lineup was made up of four new players, youngsters Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Aaron Judge and veteran Matt Holliday and four holdovers from last year, Brett Gardner, Chase Headley, Jacoby Ellsbury and Starlin Castro. The ninth player Ronald Torreyes, was substituting form returning short stop Didi Gregrius, who is injured.

Archer shut down the highly touted new sluggers holding them to one hit in 16 at bats, while the light hitting returnees were going seven for 15 as the Yankees were the punchless ones, getting beaten 7-2. Archer, was the winner and Tanaka, who was 14-4 last year, won his last seven starts and never went less that 4 2/3 innings all year, got belted and took the loss.

Then came what started out as Madison Bumgarner day in Chase Field in Phoenix where the Giants were visiting the Diamondbacks. What did Bumgarner do or should I say what didn’t he do? He had a perfect game going for 5 1/3 innings, with eight strikeouts, hit home runs in the fifth inning, against one of the best right handers in the league, Zach Greinke, and another in the seventh.  

After being perfect all that time, he gave up three runs in the last of the sixth but was still ahead 4-3 when he left after seven. His relief, Derek Law, quickly gave up a run to tie it and then, after the Giants went ahead again 5-4 in the top of the ninth, Mark Melancon, who the Giants signed to a four-year $62. million contract to be their closer, came in and blew it, giving up two runs, for the loss.  

At the end Bumgarner had nothing to show for the day except a 3.86 ERA, the league leads in strikeouts, with 11, and home runs, with two, and being the first pitcher in baseball history to hit two homers on opening day.

In the last game of the day, the world champion Cubs, with their powerful lineup, were shut out for 7 1/3 innings by the Cardinals Carlos Martinez and trailed 3-0 going into the ninth.  The D’Backs’ Seung Hwan Oh, who had relieved Martinez in the eighth, gave up three runs in the top of the ninth to allow the Cubs to tie. Mike Montgomery came on for the last of the ninth for the Cubs and gave up a run but held on for a 4-3 Cardinal win.

After 7 1/3 shutout innings against perhaps the most potent offensive team in baseball, all Martinez had to show for it was a 0.00 ERA and second place in strikeouts with 10.  The win, of course went to Oh who is now 1-0, despite giving up three runs in 1 2/3 innings for a 16.20 ERA.  

After such a crazy day, I was almost afraid to turn the television on for Monday.  It was a relief, kind of a return to sanity, to watch Rick Porcello methodically mow down the Pittsburgh Pirates for six innings. Of course, my pleasure at watching Porcello in action is always heightened by the fact that, on Dec. 28, 2014, shortly after the Sox acquired Porcello, I said, in this space, “In my opinion, Rick Porcello, who pitched in the shadow of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and David Price at Detroit, has the ability to be that ace.”  

It was Porcello’s 19th consecutive outing in which he had gone six or more innings, the longest current streak in all of baseball. He ran out of gas in the seventh and had to be replaced after giving up two singles and a double but he looked sharp until then with his usual great control and just one walk.

Porcello was not the only highlight of the day for Red Sox fans. Jackie Bradley continues to amaze with the way he glides through the outfield and makes almost every play look routine. He made another great catch against Francisco Cervelli look easy, in the fourth, when he caught his drive just before running into the center field wall.

The newest of the killer bees in left field, 22-year-old, Andrew Benintendi already looks like the Rookie of The Year. Not only did he hit a homer, scoring three runs, which turned out to be the winning runs, in the fifth, and make a game saving catch on a bases loaded line drive by Starling Marte in the seventh, he also made another play in the same inning that showed baseball instincts far beyond his years.

With no one out, a man on first and the Sox up 5-0, Cervelli hit a fly to left toward the wall. Benintendi backed up to the wall and, to anyone watching, David Freese at first included, made it look like a routine out until at the last minute he backed off and played the ball off the wall. Because Freese had to hold up to see if Benintendi was going to catch the ball, he was unable to score on the play. This play, to me, is a better indicator of how valuable this young man is going to be to this team than his homer or the game saving catch.

Of course, this game had its share of  “different” moments like Sunday’s games. I, like a lot of other people, have been very high on first baseman Mitch Moreland, both defensively, with his Gold Glove, and offensively, with his considerable power. In his first game with the Sox, he was called upon to try to handle two throws in the dirt and didn’t get either of them.  At the plate, he went 0-4 with two strikeouts and two ground outs.

Then, of course, we have the puzzle that is Craig Kimbrel. He reminds me of the little girl in the old rhyme that “when she was good, she was very, very good  but when she was bad she was horrid.”  

He came in to start the ninth with the Sox up 5-3 and the last three batters in the Pirates lineup coming up. He came in throwing 98 miles an hour and went to 3-2 on Josh Bell, who then doubled. He got number eight hitter, Josh Harrison, to strike out on three fast balls all at 98 miles an hour. Jordy Mercer, the number nine hitter, was able to weakly foul off one fast ball before striking out on five pitches, all three strikes coming on 98 mile-per-hour fastballs.

With two outs and a runner on second, he then threw three straight strikes to lead off hitter Adam Frazier.  Frazier barely got the bat on the third pitch to avoid the strikeout.

On the fourth pitch, Kimbrel hit him in the leg with an 87 mile an hour knuckle curve.

I was almost glad it hit him because the one thing that a hitter who can’t catch up with a fastball is hoping is that the pitcher will give him an off-speed pitch.

Starling Marte came to the plate with two on and two out.  Kimbrel threw him three fast balls in a row and the third one resulted in a weak pop out to first for the last out and the win.

Opening day was an experience, a little more bizarre than usual, but, on the whole, Red Sox fans left Fenway feeling good about their team.  

At the end of that day, there were 161 games left but, as Early Wynn said ‘when you win the first one, you can’t lose them all.’