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Alex Speier

It was just one game, but very different look for Red Sox

Dustin Pedroia hit two home runs in the Red Sox’ opener. He had seven in 2014.Jim Davis/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

PHILADELPHIA – Already, the 2015 Red Sox have issued a reminder of one of baseball’s bluntest equations: Hitting lots of home runs is a very reliable formula for victory.

It’s easy, even natural, to exaggerate the magnitude of the first game of a season, to examine what did or did not happen and to view it as a prelude to the year to come. There is considerable potential for misguided conclusions when projecting a full season on a sample size of one. Nonetheless, what the Red Sox managed to do in their 8-0 Opening Day thrashing of the Phillies commands notice for the simple fact that the collective and individual offensive performances were of a sort never seen in 2014.

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The Sox clubbed five homers Monday, one more than they hit in any of their 162 games in 2014. There was a message in that show of force.

“[The lineup] is different. It is different,” said Mike Napoli, who was left to observe most of the proceedings because the game took place in an NL park, necessitating David Ortiz’s entry into the lineup at first base. “You can’t pitch around anybody. You can’t navigate your way around our lineup. Pitch around one guy and the next guy can pop you. That’s got to be tough on the pitcher.”

The 2015 Red Sox look like a team that will present a drastically different challenge to opposing pitchers than their 2014 predecessors. The additions of Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, the presence of Mookie Betts in the leadoff spot, along with the return to health of Dustin Pedroia, Napoli, and Shane Victorino, suggests a lineup with a wealth of threats to clear the fences.

“We’ve got a good offense. That’s what they did this offseason, bringing in Hanley and Pablo, Dustin rebounding and being back to fully healthy after surgery this offseason,” said Victorino. “The pieces are already here.”

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How home runs influenced winning in 2014
Red Sox MLB MLB Record
5+ HR games 0 25 24-1 (960)
4 HR games 1 54 49-5 (.907)
3 HR games 6 292 174-39 (.817)
2 HR games 20 762 510-252 (.669)
1 HR games 61 1677 886-791 (.528)
0 HR games 74 2129 787-1342 (.370)
DATA: Baseball-Reference.com
Alex Speier/Globe Staff

A year ago, the Sox hit just 123 homers, a mark that ranked 22nd in the majors. Based on the evidence of one game – which featured numerous accomplishments that were rarely to never seen from the Sox in 2014 – it seems likely that the team will improve on that total. A few markers of the degree to which Monday differed from last year:

■  The Sox had just one game all of last year where they hit as many as four homers – July 21 in Toronto’s Rogers Centre launching pad. They blasted five homers on Monday.

■  Until Pedroia and Ramirez went deep twice each on Monday, the Sox hadn’t had two players launch two or more homers in a game since 2008.

■  The Red Sox had just two games all of last year where they had two different outfielders go deep. One came on April 11, when Grady Sizemore and Jonny Gomes cleared the fences. The other came on Sept. 2, when Daniel Nava and Betts accomplished the feat. The homers by Ramirez and Betts have the Sox halfway to that total.

■  The Sox did not have a single game where their outfield produced as many as three homers last year. Ramirez (2) and Betts (1) erased that in one game this year.

■  The Red Sox were one of four teams in the majors last year without a single multi-homer game from an outfielder. Ramirez ended that drought on Monday.

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■  Red Sox outfielders finished last in the majors last year with 26 combined homers. They ranked 23rd in average, 23rd in OBP (.313), and 28th in slugging (and last in the American League) with a .356 mark. On Monday, the team’s outfielders went 4-for-11 with three homers and four walks.

The Sox won’t hit five homers every game, of course, but it is easy to imagine more games such as the opener, in which the team simply bludgeons its opponents. That ability, in turn, suggests a fairly straightforward road map to improvement this year.

Teams that clubbed four or more homers in a single game last year won more than 90 percent of the time. Teams that went deep at least three times in a game last year had a .677 winning percentage.

That said, home runs aren’t a prerequisite for winning teams. The Royals, after all, had the fewest homers in the big leagues last year (94) yet still managed to reach the World Series.

Still, the ability to deliver the quick strike is clearly a game-changer, particularly in an era where pitching dominance and the ability to rack up strikeouts has made it more difficult than at any point in a couple of decades to string together the hits needed to sustain rallies.

Last year’s Red Sox team couldn’t tap into that formula for success. This year, the evidence of one game suggests a very different sense of offensive possibility.

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“It feels like 2007 when I got called up with Manny [Ramirez] and David and everybody,” said Sox starter Clay Buchholz. “I’m glad I don’t have to pitch to them. I’m glad they’re on our side and I don’t have to go out there.”


Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him on twitter at @alexspeier.