BOSTON — The 2020 MLB season will unquestionably go down in history as the strangest ever played. No fans, players wearing masks at the plate, and a shortened season will make it weird, unique, and exciting.
In typical 162-game seasons, the fans can get bored of everyday games as one regular-season MLB game means very little compared to an NFL regular-season matchup.
But this short, 60-game season that is being referred to as a "sprint" will change the importance of these regular-season tilts.
It can also help a team like the Red Sox get into the expanded playoff format if they go on a hot streak.
The start of the 2020 season looked very promising for a team that missed the postseason last year, as they began with a three-game home stand against the Baltimore Orioles.
A 13-2 win was great for the fans watching from the comfort of home and the stat sheet. Scoring four runs in the third inning, followed by six in the fourth was enough to put game one out of reach.
J.D. Martinez and newcomer Kevin Pillar tallied 3 RBI's as the Sox got the Opening Day win, tying the Yankees and the Blue Jays atop the division.
Nathan Eovaldi was named Opening Day starter and tossed six innings allowing one run for his first victory of the season.
But after Opening Day came game two, and game three.
And oh were games two and three bad for Boston.
After shelling Baltimore's pitching the night before, the Sox only put up two runs in game two's afternoon matchup.
Making his Red Sox debut, Martin Perez pitched five innings and gave up four runs Saturday.
Boston was just 1-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 players on base as the team's record evened to 1-1.
Instead of a quick turnaround after game two, the teams enjoyed 24 hours before the rubber match of the opening series of the season.
The extra rest didn't help the home team, but the visiting Orioles got off to a fast start, scoring two runs off a Rio Ruiz home run in the first inning of Sunday afternoon's contest.
Ryan Webber started for Boston and lasted just 3.2 innings, giving up 6 runs.
Although the Red Sox pulled within a few runs a couple of times, the offense just wasn't what it was on Opening Night and Boston dropped the game 7-4, losing the series.
After 13 runs scored in game one, the Sox combined for just six runs the next two games.
In this 60-game sprint, a team like the Red Sox with a struggling starting rotation but a good lineup, needs to take advantage of "soft" games.
Baltimore lost more than 100-games last season and is predicted to be the worst team in the division, again.
For the Red Sox to make a push for the playoffs the team can't let an opportunity go to waste when they meet up with Baltimore again in August.
As for what's ahead:
Boston will make the trip to its least welcomed destination, New York, to play two games against the Mets after they take on the Mets at Fenway for two games.
After the two games in New York against the Mets, the club will make the intercity trip to the Bronx to take on the rival New York Yankees in a three-game series starting Friday.
Losing this opening series is a set-back, as it was a chance to pick up some wins before playing the Mets and World Series favorite Yankees.
This time next week, the Sox will have played 10 out of 60 games, giving playoff predictors enough data to see if the club will have a shot of making the postseason.
If the next 10 games go like the last two, it could be another postseason missed for the Sox.
