ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A major league manager can record his first career win only once. So there was Alex Cora, eyes red from the sting of champagne and a soaked towel slung over his shoulder after a dousing by his victorious Boston Red Sox players here Friday night.
"We wasted a lot of beer," smiling pitcher David Price said.
Sure, the second game of the season seems a little premature for a clubhouse celebration. But Cora has been an air freshener to a team that didn't have much fun last season under former manager John Farrell. So, a few suds were more than appropriate following a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays, especially considering the 6-4 Opening Day dud that preceded it about only 27 hours earlier.
And given the way Cora's first two games unfolded under the roof at Tropicana Field, it isn't crazy to think that the Red Sox could wind up partying like this a few more times seven months from now.
In the opener, Cora sent Chris Sale to the mound. And although the lanky lefty didn't have his usual spot-on command en route to issuing three walks, he still held the Rays to one hit in six scoreless innings before relievers Joe Kelly and Carson Smith melted down in the eighth.
Sale is almost always a tough act to follow. Don't tell that to Price. Finally healthy again after making only 11 starts last season because of elbow and forearm injuries, he dazzled in his first start of the season. Using primarily a fastball-cutter combination and sprinkling in a few curveballs and changeups the second and third time through the lineup, Price gave up four hits and struck out five in seven walk-free innings.
Between them, Sale and Price did something that hadn't been done in 78 years. They became the first Red Sox starters to open a season with back-to-back scoreless outings since Lefty Grove and Jim Bagby Jr. tossed complete-game shutouts against the Washington Senators in 1940.
That kind of pitching will make life easy for any manager.
"Lights out," Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. "[Price] was lights out. Him and Sale yesterday. I don't think they gave up a run yet. They looked sharp."
If Sale and Price look sharp, Craig Kimbrel is the Red Sox's Excalibur. Twelve days ago, the All-Star closer rejoined the team after missing three weeks to be with his infant daughter, who underwent surgery at Boston Children's Hospital for a congenital heart condition. But that didn't stop him from punctuating Cora's maiden victory by striking out the side on 15 pitches.
"I was definitely thinking about her, absolutely," Kimbrel said of his daughter. "I think I might have a hard time not doing that."
And yet when he was through overpowering Kevin Kiermaier, Carlos Gomez and C.J. Cron -- the heart of the Rays' order -- Kimbrel made sure to give the ball to Cora.
"That's his ball," Kimbrel said. "I mean, it's his first managerial win. To be able to close it out for him, I felt like he deserved that ball."
As long as Cora can keep handing the ball to Sale and Price before two out of every five games, the Red Sox figure to rack up plenty of victories for their manager.
That was the plan when the Sox traded for Sale before last season. They intended to pair Sale and Price at the top of a super-rotation and ride their left arms into late October. But Price injured his elbow in spring training, didn't make his first start until Memorial Day, went back on the disabled list in late July and returned at the end of the season as a reliever.
Sale and Price wound up starting back-to-back games only three times: May 29-30 against the Chicago White Sox, June 3-4 against the Baltimore Orioles and July 21-22 against the Los Angeles Angels. They were in the rotation together for less than two months.
In an attempt to preserve their aces' health and still build their arm strength in preparation for the season, the Red Sox brought Sale and Price along gradually in spring training. So far, so good. Price, in particular, said he has never felt so strong at this stage of the season.
It showed against the Rays. Price touched 94 with his fastball and threw 55 of his 76 pitches for strikes. And he was as efficient as he was effective. His pitch count by inning: 11-7-11-17-8-12-10.
The Red Sox's lone run came in the seventh inning. Bogaerts led off with a double -- his fourth in two games -- and scored on Rafael Devers' single up the middle.
There will be better days ahead for the offense. Through two games, Andrew Benintendi is hitless in eight at-bats and Jackie Bradley Jr. in seven. Big-ticket slugger J.D. Martinez is 0-for-6 with two walks and three strikeouts.
But these Red Sox are still built around their starting pitching, with Sale and Price staking a claim to the best one-two punch in the league.
"[It's] all five of us," Price said. "I'm excited to see what Eddie's [left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez] going to do. To me, he's been our best pitcher in spring training, just watching him throw bullpens and watching him on the back fields. But if all five of our starters can have, not even great years, just have good years, I think we can do something really special."
Two games in, Sale and Price have set the bar. It doesn't get any higher.