After their biggest off-season story line was losing out in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes to a surprise bidder the Texas Rangers came into 2011 with plenty to prove.  Although they picked up Adrian Beltre, many questioned the team’s rotation and ability to get quality starts on a consistent basis and back up their high octane offense that helped them win the AL Championship last seasontook them to the World Series in 2010.

The Boston Red Sox came into the 2011 season in the opposite position. After missing the playoffs last year, they traded for Adrian Gonzalez and signed Carl Crawford to a huge contract to put together the most dominant offense in the league (on paper).

The two teams met opening weekend and it was Texas, not Boston who made a statement that the rest of the American League better look out.

On Opening Day the Rangers took an early lead over the Sox but had to break a tie in the eighth inning against Daniel Bard to secure the victory. The following day, Texas rocked Boston starter John Lackey (a big free agent acquisition just a year ago) and ended up hitting four homers en-route to a 12-5 blowout.

In the final game of the series, Texas got a huge boost from pitcher Matt Harrison. With Cliff Lee, Harrison would have been a seemingly unimportant starter pitching out of the bottom of the rotation. Without Lee, Harrison was one of the guys who needed to step up most, and did so in a big way against the Red Sox.

Harrison tossed seven innings of one run ball against the league’s best (on paper) offense. The Rangers tagged Clay Buchholz for four solo homeruns (including the third in three games from Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler) en route to a 5-1 win.

Is it time to press the panic button in Boston?

Probably not.

We are only three games into the season and the Red Sox should be able to overcome the slow start. The offense was mediocre (11 runs in three games isn’t horrible) but the pitching looked terrible. Aside from Jon Lester, the rotation is full of question marks which grew larger after the first series.

Of the two teams, Texas made the bigger statement. Although they lost out of Cliff Lee, the team still is the favorite to take the AL West and shouldn’t be treated lightly. The offense is unbelievable, perhaps the best in the league, and should continue to be terrific if Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz stay healthy. Cruz hit his fourth home run in as many games last night.

The biggest surprise was the pitching of Matt Harrison. He was shipped to Texas from Atlanta in the Mark Teixeira trade but never hit his stride in the majors. If he can continue to dominate teams like he did the Red Sox, the American League better watch out.

Used with permission of the author.

Along with contributing to Sports Climax, Brett Kettyle is the Atlanta Braves Community Leader on Bleacher Report and maintains a Braves column for MTR Media. Follow Brett on Twitter.

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