BOSTON--Nick Esasky homered in his Boston debut and Wade Boggs keyed rallies with a pair of singles yesterday as the Red Sox won their home opener, 5-2, over Cleveland.

Mike Boddicker (1-0) blanked the Indians on two hits for five innings before giving way to Mike Smithson after a two-run homer by Joe Carter in the sixth. Smithson finished the game to pick up his second save.

The Red Sox, who returned home with a 1-4 record, spoiled the major league debut of Joe Skalski, who allowed three runs on six hits in five innings.

Cleveland, coming off a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees, pulled to within 3-2 on Carter's homer, which snapped Boddicker's scoreless string against the Indians at 16 and two-thirds innings.

But Boston scored two runs in the bottom of the inning on Esasky's first American League homer and an RBI double by Marty Barrett.

Esasky, acquired from Cincinnati last December, also had a single in the fourth and a double in the seventh.

Boddicker, obtained from Baltimore last July, improved his Fenway Park record to 6-1 with the Red Sox. He is 10-2 lifetime in Boston.

The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead in the second when Dwight Evans doubled and scored on Rich Gedman's single.

Boggs singled to start the third. He took second when Barrett walked, moved to third on Andy Allanson's passed ball and scored on Ellis Burks' single. Jim Rice made it 3-0 with an RBI single after a pair of walks in the fifth.

Boggs, who has been the subject of trade rumors, was given an ovation by Red Sox fans before and during the game.

The weather seemed more appropriate for football. The Red Sox were limping home from a 1-4 road trip. Yet somehow the sun managed to light a fire under the Red Sox and their fans.

Never mind that the hot stove league sounded more like a pot boiler with stories of the Wade Boggs extramarital affair. The opening pitch in the 51 degree chill had the atmosphere of a fall playoff and the cheers--even for Boggs--from the sellout crowd seemed to indicate that the team's dismal start was forgotten, if only for one day.

Special Guest

From around Boston and around New England, the fans came in droves, some on a day off, others taking a sly sick day, still others poised to hustle off to night jobs. Some even came from as nearby as Bright Center.

Waiting outside the ancient ball-park, Emma Cleary was wondering whether her son Billy would be able to perform his one official duty of the day--tossing out the ceremonial first pitch. As it turned out, Mrs. Cleary's worries were well founded.

Bill Cleary, coach of the NCAA champion Harvard hockey team, is nursing a sore shoulder and his toss from the Fenway mound bounced a few feet shy of Sox catcher Rich Gedman.

"I planned it that way; I wanted the ball to look authentic," Cleary said as he showed off the scuffed ceremonial first baseball.

Cleary was accompanied by the entire Harvard hockey team, all of whom had to buy their own tickets.

"NCAA rules," Cleary said.

Not just The Wall

From home plate outward, Fenway looks much the same as it did in 1934 when the refurbished park was opened with its fabled "Green Monster" left field wall. Behind home plate, time appears to be marching on. The park now boasts an $18 million press luxury box complete with elevators and a restaurant. On opening day the elevators weren't operating. Neither was the cafe.

But none of that matters to John Lord and his hunting buddies who made the trip again this year from Augusta, Maine. They consider opening day a holiday as sacred as July 4th or Memorial Day.

"It's different in that on those other days, we'll be heading north," said Lord. "It is a special day down here."

Opening day is more than just a rite of spring; it's also a fan's greatest delight.

"I've missed two opening days in 20 years," Bill Cullen said outside the park. "I've been wearing different outfits since '67."

It wasn't so much the blue boxer shorts with Red Sox logos or the red knee stockings the 62-year-old Cullen was wearing that attracted attention. It was the beachball hat stuffed and sewn together like a baseball by his wife that drew stares.