The Boston Red Sox faced off against the Tampa Bay Rays Friday on a beautiful day at Fenway Park.
Kind of.
Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez took on Rays southpaw Blake Snell on Opening Night of the MLB The Show Players League. One player from each MLB team is controlling their own squad in the league, which will run through April 28 followed by a postseason beginning April 30 and a "World Series" on May 2.
E-Rod gave it his best shot vs. Snell, but it wasn't nearly enough as he fell 6-0 to the 2018 Cy Young winner and was no-hit in the contest. You can watch some of the matchup below:
It's Opening Night of the @MLBTheShow Players League!
— MLB (@MLB) April 11, 2020
Watch @snellzilla4 in action. ⬇️ https://t.co/BmMGRfUYPh
For what it's worth, Snell is the far more experienced MLB The Show player. He streams the game often on his Twitch channel, while Rodriguez made it clear he was a novice.
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The most entertaining part of the MLB The Show Players League stream is the banter between players. Rodriguez, Snell, and Cincinnati Reds reliever Amir Garrett each talked about facing Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo in real-life matchups, and it was excellent.
"Ask him what he did to me in Texas," E-Rod said, recalling to a May 2018 game in which he let up two long homers to Gallo.
As much as we wish this banter was occurring on the real baseball field, this is a tremendous way for fans to get a closer look at the personalities of some of their favorite players.
After his loss to Snell, things didn't get much better for E-Rod. He lost his other three games to Garrett, Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers, Minnesota Twins pitcher Trevor May.
If you're interested in checking out more MLB The Show Players League games, here's the schedule for each upcoming matchup.