The Boston Red Sox are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Boston, Massachusetts. They have played in the American League since it was founded in 1901, and the American League East since divisions were introduced in 1969. The first game of each baseball season for a team is known as Opening Day, for which being named the starting pitcher is an honor. That honor is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season,^[1] although there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day.^[2]

Including the team's first 2024 game, the team has had 124 Opening Days. In those Opening Day games:

• The team has used 66 different starting pitchers.
  • Roger Clemens holds the team record for most starts with eight. Other pitchers with four or more starts are Pedro Martínez (7), Cy Young (6), Dennis Eckersley (5), Jon Lester (4), Bill Monbouquette (4), and Mel Parnell (4).
• The team has a win–loss record of 60–63–1, which is a winning percentage of .488.
  • The one tie occurred in 1910; playing against the New York Highlanders at Hilltop Park in New York City, the game was declared a tie after 14 innings on account of darkness.^[3] The first MLB night game did not occur until 1935.
• Starting pitchers have compiled a win–loss record of 49–45, with 30 no decisions.
  • The most wins is three, by Roger Clemens, Wes Ferrell, Pedro Martínez, Babe Ruth, and Cy Young. The most losses is three, by Howard Ehmke and Cy Young. The most no decisions is three, by Clemens and Martínez.

Results by decade

More information Decade, Team W–L–T ...

Decade	Team W–L–T	Pitchers' W–L (ND)	New starters†
1900s‡	4–5	4–5	4 (Kellum, Young, Winter, Arellanes)
1910s	5–4–1	5–4 (1)	6 (Cicotte, Wood, Collins, Shore, Ruth, Mays)
1920s	3–7	3–6 (1)	8 (Russell, Jones, Quinn, Ehmke, Ferguson, Harriss, Harriss, Ruffing)
1930s	5–5	4–4 (2)	6 (Moore, Andrews, Rhodes, Ferrell, Bagby, Grove)
1940s	6–4	4–4 (2)	6 (Wilson, Newsome, Hughson, Terry, Cecil, Dobson)
1950s	5–5	4–4 (2)	4 (Parnell, Wight, Sullivan, Brewer)
1960s	5–5	3–4 (3)	6 (Sturdivant, Monbouquette, Schwall, Wilson, Lonborg, Ellsworth)
1970s	6–4	5–2 (3)	7 (Peters, Culp, Pattin, Tiant, Jenkins, Torrez, Eckersley)
1980s	2–8	2–3 (5)	4 (Hurst, Boyd, Stanley, Clemens)
1990s	8–2	6–2 (2)	3 (Sele, Gordon, Martinez)
2000s	4–6	3–3 (4)	4 (Wells, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Beckett)
2010s	5–5	4–2 (4)	5 (Lester, Buchholz, Price, Porcello, Sale)
2020s	2–3	2–2 (1)	3 (Eovaldi, Kluber, Bello)
TOTALS	60–63–1	49–45 (30)	66

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‡ 1900s spans nine seasons, as 1901 was the team's first season.
† Number of pitchers making their first Opening Day start for the Red Sox franchise, along with their surnames. Pitchers' full names appear in the below List.