Here we go again.
After a whirlwind offseason that saw sweeping changes in the clubhouse, promising a new era and tighter ship, the Boston Red Sox are right back where they were last year, off to a lousy 1-5 start that puts them squarely in the basement of the AL East. Boston started 0-6 last year, but won 10 of its next 15, though, and is hoping another turnaround is coming.
“You have stretches where you play six games and things don’t go your way,” manager Bobby Valentine told the Associated Press. “Then you have stretches where you play six games and everything goes your way. Six games is a ridiculously small sample size.”
There’s no better time for it to happen. The Red Sox are back at Fenway for their home opener Friday as they host the Tampa Bay Rays, the team that ripped the final playoff spot from them a year ago. Fenway will be adorned with banners and decorations as the Sox celebrate their 101st season at the historic ballpark.
The Red Sox are favored by 1 1/2 runs, according to Bovada, with a -120 moneyline.
Starter Josh Beckett hopes the comfort of home erases the nightmare memories of last week, when he surrendered five home runs to the Detroit Tigers. He’s been good lifetime against the Rays, though, with a 2.94 ERA and a batting average against of .213.
“That first start’s always a crapshoot,” Beckett told the AP. “You’ve got a lot of anxiety leading up to that. You want to do well. A lot of times, you expend too much energy on things that don’t help you be successful.”
Beckett reportedly met with trainers to go over his mechanics and thinks he has things straightened out.
He might have to pitch around Tampa Bay’s Carlos Pena to do it. The left handed first baseman, snagged this off-season, is off to a torrid start in his 
return to the club, slugging three of the team’s five home runs and batting .429.
He and third baseman Evan Longoria are the primary reasons the team is leading the East at 4-2 after sweeping the New York Yankees last week.
David Price starts for the Rays with a career 3-1 record against the Red Sox.
Bovada’s MLB Team Props page has Boston favored to win the whole series at -120.