Red Sox Suffer 1st 0-3 Start at Fenway Park Since 1948 After Orioles Sweep

Things have been better for the Boston Red Sox.

Boston dropped to 0-3 on the 2021 season with an 11-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on Sunday. According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), it was the first time since 1948 that Boston started with an 0-3 record at Fenway Park.

It was also just the second time in franchise history it fell to 0-3 at Fenway Park.

If it's any consolation for the Red Sox, they bounced back and finished the 1948 campaign with a 96-59 record.

Still, this is a team that went 24-36 during the shortened 2020 campaign and also missed the playoffs in 2019 after winning the World Series in 2018. Many of the key players from that championship team, including Mookie Betts, David Price and Craig Kimbrel, are no longer on the roster.

Expectations are not exactly high for Boston in the daunting American League East.

The New York Yankees figure to be championship contenders, and the Tampa Bay Rays are coming off a World Series appearance. The Toronto Blue Jays also made the playoffs during the 2020 season.

Dropping three straight games to the Orioles, who are coming off four straight losing seasons, is not exactly the ideal way to start the 2021 campaign for a Boston squad looking to bounce back from last year's efforts.

The biggest issue Sunday was an inability to slow down the top of Baltimore's lineup.

Cedric Mullins, Trey Mancini and Anthony Santander went a combined 10-for-16 with six runs and four RBI.