That noise you heard last night was the wailing and gnashing of teeth in Red Sox Nation as the team dropped its opener in somewhat ugly fashion to the Baltimore Orioles. Unlike the Yankees, they couldn't blame jet lag or a pre-game meal of udon noodles on their performance.

Concern over Pedro will mount, though let's remember his first outing against the Orioles last year - that of the ten earned runs. It was a very cold night in Charm City, not exactly Pedro's favored conditions. Sidney Ponson seemed a little more comfortable, but not by much. Enough to keep the Sox offense in relative check, certainly.

If we're going to be concerned about anything with 161 games to go, the offense may be the place to start given how the Sox left upwards of a dozen guys on base last night (checking the box score gives an even scarier number - 14). Most notable last night was Johnny Damon's 0-for-5, even if he did manage a RBI. Actually, if we're going to worry about anything, perhaps it should be Damon's baseball-meets-Unabomber look. Perhaps there's a reverse Sampson thing here.

Those looking for other pitching to pound on can consider Mike Timlin's performance, as he gave up three earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. His ERA is currently listed as 40.50, which you know some idiot caller on sports talk is going to mention.

While the team's fan base isn't particularly known for restraint, I hope we can at least get through the road trip before people start calling for Pedro to get a series of MRIs (or for Terry Francona's head, though I think he'll be spared for now).