Gil Meche Outstanding in Debut

Over 41,000 fans gave Gil Meche (1-0) a well-deserved standing ovation Monday, forgetting all about the criticism they may have given the organization for dishing out a $55 million contract to the 28-year-old righty this offseason.

Meche went 7.1 solid innings, leading his new Kansas City Royals team to a 7-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox and an incredibly ineffective Curt Schilling.

After a shaky first inning, Meche gave up six hits and one run, striking out six and walking only one in the longest outing by a Royals Opening Day starter since Bret Saberhagen in 1988.

Mark Grudzielanek went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs while Tony Pena Jr. hit two triples in his Royals debut.

Schilling, on the other hand, lasted just four innings. The six-time All-Star gave up five runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts in his shortest outing in almost a decade, giving him a 1-3 record in five career starts at Kauffman Stadium.

He was in deep from the very start, giving up three straight 1-out singles before walking in a run in the first inning.

"Four innings, 89 pitches. Those were four hard innings," said manager Terry Francona.
Julio Lugo, the free-agent shortstop signed to Boston this winter in hopes of adding some pop to the leadoff spot, struck out three times.

With his first pitch in the big leagues, Boston reliever Hideki Okajima gave up a home run to John Buck leading off the sixth. Long-time Royal Mark Sweeney and Mark Teahan each went 2-for-4.

First baseman Kevin Youkilis went 2-for-4 with a run scored for Boston while second baseman Dustin Pedroia went 2-for-3. Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek each went 0-4.

[Box Score]