The Boston Red Sox won a thriller over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday, as they came away with a 9-8 home victory.

While they secured the win on the day, the main storyline from the Red Sox's performance against the Orioles centered on their pitching woes, which was also the case in their 2023 regular season opener.

Chris Sale made his first start for the Red Sox since last July, and he had an outing to forget. The seven-time All-Star allowed seven hits and seven earned runs during his time on the mound. While Sale was able to tally 13 swings and misses, six out of the seven hits that Baltimore recorded against him had an exit velocity of more than 100 mph.

In the big picture, Red Sox manager Alex Cora is confident that his team’s pitching staff will soon turn it around after allowing a combined 18 runs to the Orioles in two games.

“Obviously the pitching thing we have to do better,” Cora said after the game. “But we will.”

The Red Sox will hand the ball over to Tanner Houck for their series finale against Baltimore on Sunday. The right-handed pitcher posted a 3.15 ERA in 60.0 innings pitched in the 2022 season.

Overall, Boston is looking to open up a season with a winning record after three games for the first time since the 2018 campaign.