He made his major league debut against the Boston Red Sox on Opening Day on April 3, 2006, and got his first major league hit in his first major league at bat, off Curt Schilling. Kinsler said: The crowd was full; I had the butterflies going, so to get that hit was huge. The family was in town... To go out there and face one of the best pitchers of all time, you've got to be locked in. It's your first game, your first big league experience—it was unbelievable to face that guy.