BOSTON — Before the second inning at Fenway Park, the scoreboard camera zoomed in on Jake Peavy and the Red Sox flashed a message welcoming him back. Peavy took his cap off as the crowd roared for a player who was part of the 2013 championship team, and for a while it looked like Peavy’s return would be a huge success.
Peavy was dominant early on in his first start at Fenway since July 6, 2014, but he gave up two homers and that was the difference. The lineup went silent once again and the Giants fell 4-0 in their first game here in nine years. They have lost the first four on this three-city road trip.
Peavy retired the first eight, striking out three straight at one point. Brock Holt ended that run by lining an elevated fastball into the Red Sox bullpen. The early success included one massive scare — a David Ortiz fly ball to center that went 388 feet but was caught. In his second at-bat, Ortiz didn’t mess with the big part of the yard. He got a first-pitch cutter that didn’t cut and he blasted it 442 feet to right. The no-doubter was Ortiz’s 23rd homer of the year and brought three runs across.
The Ortiz homer just magnified issues the Giants had with runners on. The first two batters of the night singled, but Rick Porcello struck out Brandon Belt, Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford. Jarrett Parker led off the second with a single but was doubled off when he rounded second on Conor Gillaspie’s fly ball to deep center. The Giants never solved Porcello after the missed opportunities in the first two innings.
Starting pitching report: Peavy got through six and threw better than his final line. The Red Sox had just four runners reach base but all of them scored.
Bullpen report: Javier Lopez, who once played an inning of right field for the Red Sox, pitched the seventh and faced a batter in the eighth. He was also given a nice ovation.
At the plate: Belt is still looking for his first hit post-All-Star-appearance. He’s 0-for-16 on the road trip.
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In the field: Denard Span made a sliding catch to rob Dustin Pedroia of a single. Had he whiffed, Pedroia might have jogged to an inside-the-park homer.
Attendance: The Red Sox announced a crowd of 38,082 human beings who came to see where “The Town” was filmed.
Up next: Matt Cain makes his return to the rotation after dealing with a hamstring injury. He’ll face lefty Drew Pomeranz, who was set to face the Giants at Petco Park over the weekend before he got traded.
