Right-hander Hirokazu Sawamura made his major league debut Friday, pitching a scoreless final inning for the Boston Red Sox in their 3-0 Opening Day loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
The 33-year-old from Japan took the mound in the top of the ninth at Fenway Park and struck out his first batter, Austin Hays, swinging on a 150-kilometer-per-hour splitter.
He got the next batter, Maikel Franco, to ground out before allowing his only hit, a line-drive double to left by Freddy Galvis. The former Yomiuri Giants and Lotte Marines hurler then completed the inning on a groundout by Pedro Severino.
"I felt exhilarated, but without any bad nerves," Sawamura said following the American League East matchup, which was postponed by two days because of bad weather.
"I was completely focused on my own pitching. It wasn't an entirely convincing performance, but I think it was a good start, given that I didn't allow a run."
Ryan Mountcastle drove in the first run in the sixth, bringing home a pair of runners on a double against Red Sox reliever Matt Andriese.
Baltimore starter John Means got the win after throwing seven scoreless innings, while Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi took the loss.
Sawamura, wearing the same No. 19 countryman Koji Uehara had during his iconic run with the Sox, is seen as a potential key bullpen piece by the club, which has overhauled its roster after finishing bottom of the AL East in 2020.
The right-hander signed a two-year deal with the Red Sox as a free agent in the offseason, becoming the latest in a long line of Japanese pitchers to make the move to Boston's historic Fenway Park.
In other AL action, Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run, a two-run blast in the ninth inning of his team's 12-8 loss to the visiting Chicago White Sox.
Ohtani sent Liam Hendriks' 3-2 fastball deep over right center field in his final at-bat of a 1-for-5 outing with two runs and two RBIs.
The 26-year-old will stay in the Angels' batting lineup Saturday before taking the mound against the White Sox the following day for his first start of the season, manager Joe Maddon said. Under previous managers, the Japanese star had been given the day off before he pitched.
Madden has also said he may go without a designated hitter in order for Ohtani to bat and pitch on Sunday, something he occasionally did in Japan but had not done in the majors until this year's preseason.
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