David Ortiz also began his farewell tour by launching the 504th home run of his career.
Kluber -- making his second straight Opening Day start for the Indians -- struck out five and walked
two in 5 1/3 innings, in which he allowed four runs on nine hits. Betts delivered a two-run shot off the former American League Cy Young Award winner in the third inning, and Brock Holt contributed an RBI single off Kluber in the sixth.
Ortiz's blast came in the ninth inning, when Indians righty Trevor Bauer made his season debut out of the bullpen. Bauer, who was bumped out of the rotation for the start of this year, issued a leadoff walk and later surrendered a two-run home run to Big Papi to help Boston to the win column.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Two-way show by Mookie: Betts wasted no time displaying his array of skills. In the top of the third, he pummeled a two-run homer to left-center to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. The homer had an exit velocity of 107-mph. Of the 18 homers Betts hit last year, his best exit velocity was 105.7 mph. In the fifth, Betts raced back and made a tremendous snare on a liner by Rajai Davis.
Two-run rally: After an 11-pitch battle between Price and Mike Napoli, who ultimately struck out, the Tribe got aggressive to pull the game into a 2-2 tie in the fourth. Carlos Santana followed with a single, and then sprinted to third on an RBI base hit from Yan Gomes that glanced off the glove of a diving Dustin Pedroia. That hustle allowed Santana to score from third on a sacrifice fly to left field by Marlon Byrd.
Bridge to Kimbrel sturdy: The addition of closer Craig Kimbrel allowed Red Sox manager John Farrell to move Koji Uehara to the eighth inning and Junichi Tazawa to the seventh, creating what could be an elite bullpen. Tazawa and Uehara looked like a formidable setup duo on Tuesday, as the two Japanese righties retired all six batters they faced, striking out three of them. Kimbrel pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation.
Kluber flinches: With his pitch count nearing the century mark, Kluber labored and could not escape the sixth inning. Hanley Ramirez, Travis Shaw and Holt connected for three straight singles to open the inning, putting the Red Sox ahead, 3-2. A wild pitch by Kluber then allowed Shaw to sprint home from third to pad Boston's lead.
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The first-pitch temperature of 34 degrees was the coldest season opener on record for the Indians. The previous low on record was 36 degrees in 1907. Tuesday's opener was a makeup of a postponement on Monday, when the Indians and Red Sox had their season-opener pushed back due to cold weather and precipitation.
Price became the first Red Sox pitcher to strike out 10 in his debut with the team since Daisuke Matsuzaka. In fact, Price's performance came on the ninth anniversary of Matsuzaka's 10-K performance in Kansas City. The last Red Sox pitcher to strike out 10 on Opening Day was Josh Beckett in 2009 at Fenway against the Rays.
WHAT'S NEXT
Red Sox: Right-hander Clay Buchholz makes his return to action after his 2015 season ended on July 10 with a right elbow injury. Buchholz was on a hot streak at the time he was hurt, posting a 2.02 ERA in his last 11 starts. Game 2 against the Indians is scheduled to start at 6:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday at Progressive Field.
Indians: Right-hander Carlos Carrasco -- considered a Cy Young contender by many preseason prognosticators -- is slated to take the mound against the Red Sox. Last year, Carrasco won 14 games, posted a 3.63 ERA and piled up 216 strikeouts in 183 2/3 innings.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.
Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Major League Bastian, follow him on Twitter @MLBastian and listen to his podcast. Ian Browne is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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