The Boston Red Sox opened the 2025 season with seven games on the road, but finally took the field for their Fenway Park home opener Friday, when they opened a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Friday marks the 114th Red Sox home opener at Fenway Park, and fans were treated to a gorgeous day at the beloved ballpark. Gates opened at 12:10 p.m., and fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 1:30 p.m. to enjoy the pregame festivities the organization planned.
Things are looking up as the Red Sox come home after a 3-4 start to the season. Boston dropped three of four in its opening series against the Texas Rangers, but then took two of three against the Orioles in Baltimore.
The Red Sox are 72-52 all-time in their home openers, including a 63-50 record at Fenway Park. The team has lost their last four home openers, but have gone 13-7 in their last 20 home openers.
Alex Cora is hoping his team will fare much better at home in 2025 than it did last season. Boston was just 38-43 at Fenway Park in 2024, one of just 10 MLB teams to finish below .500 on their home field. The Red Sox haven’t had a home record above .500 since the 2022 season, when they went 43-38.
When is the Red Sox home opener in 2025?
The Red Sox open the home portion of their season Friday, April 4 against the St. Louis Cardinals. First pitch was set for 2:10 p.m., with a lot of pregame entertainment planned for the big day in Boston.
When the Red Sox and Cardinals were introduced along the baselines, the colors were presented by the 1st Battalion and 181st Infantry Regiment of the Massachusetts National Guard, the 66th Air Base Group out of Hanscom Air Force Base, and members of the 1st Coast Guard District.
Why were there fighter jets over Massachusetts?
Several Massachusetts towns were treated to a show in the sky as aircraft waiting to participate in the Fenway Park flyover circled overhead.
The National Anthem was performed by the “Treble Allstars” of the Boston Arts Academy, and punctuated by a fly-over by two F-35’s flown by the 134th Fighter Squadron, Green Mountain Boys of the Vermont Air National Guard, and one KC-46 from the New Hampshire Air National Guard’s 157th Air Refueling Wing.
Red Sox honor 1975 team ahead of home opener
The Red Sox held a pregame ceremony to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1975 team, which won the American League pennant before losing the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds — the Big Red Machine — in a hard-fought seven-game series.
Fred Lynn (who won Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in 1975), Carlton Fisk (whose big swing at Fenway Park forced a deciding Game 7 against Cincinnati), and Jim Rice were among the 20 former players to take the field, as was 85-year-old Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz threw out the first pitch to Boston manager Alex Cora.
The Captain – Carl Yastrzemski throws out the #OpeningDay Ceremonial 1st Pitch – representing the 1975 AL Champion @redsox – @wbz pic.twitter.com/BtZFJ8XkUS
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) April 4, 2025
The team also remembered Red Sox Hall of Famer Luis Tiant, who passed away last October at the age of 83. “El Tiante” and his unique windup spent eight of his 19 MLB seasons in Boston and won 122 games with the Red Sox.
Members of the Tiant family delivered the ceremonial “Play ball!” before the game.
Who is pitching for the Red Sox in their home opener?
Right-hander Walker Buehler will be on the hill for the Red Sox for the home opener, which will be his second start for the team. Buehler was tagged with a loss in his first career start for Boston last week, after he surrendered four earned runs off seven hits (including a homer) in a 4-3 Red Sox defeat at the hands of the Texas Rangers. Friday will be his first-ever start at Fenway Park.
Buehler will be opposed by St. Louis righty Erick Fedde, who is 1-0 on the year after tossing innings of one-run ball in his first start against the Minnesota Twins.
What is the Red Sox lineup for Friday’s home opener?
Here is the Boston lineup for the team’s first game at Fenway Park:
1. Jarren Duran, LF2. Rafael Devers, DH3. Alex Bregman, 3B4. Triston Casas, 1B5. Trevor Story, SS6. Wilyer Abreu, RF7. Kristian Campbell, 2B8. Carlos Narvaez, C
9. Ceddanne Rafaela, CF
Cora joked that he had to tell Bregman not to show up at the ballpark at 6 a.m. on Friday.
“He’s excited to play here,” Cora told reporters Friday morning.
What food is available at Fenway Park?
The better question is which concessions aren’t available at Fenway Park? Red Sox fans can pick from a diverse array of food when checking out a ballgame, from your typical baseball foods such as hot dogs and popcorn to some more much extravagant options like clam chowder, a lobster roll, and burrito bowls.
There’s a big buffet of new options to munch on at Fenway Park this year, including the PIG MAC sandwich(mac and cheese, pulled pork, and bacon strips on sourdough), Pineapple Bacon Sausage, and ICEE frozen beverages.
Click here to see where you can get all the different concessions at Fenway Park.
Matt GeaganMatthew Geagan is a sports producer for CBS Boston. He has been part of the WBZ sports team for nearly 20 years. He moved over to the web in 2012 and has covered all the highs (and a few lows) in Boston sports.
