BALTIMORE -- Rookie Roman Anthony became the youngest Red Sox player ever to lead off a game with a home run when he smashed a 410-foot blast off Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano on Monday.

The 21-year-old outfielder had a simple response when asked about his achievement.

"It's pretty cool," he said. "It's good. I like that. Sweet. Thanks for letting me know, but no, that's great."

Anthony's two-hit, two-run performance helped the Red Sox secure a 4-3 win over the Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Monday.

Anthony jumped on a 93.8 mph fastball from Sugano, a 35-year-old rookie from Japan, with the count even 2-2. It left his bat at 107.2 mph.

"To set the tone there, it's a good feeling as the leadoff guy," Anthony said.

Bobby Doerr was the previous youngest Red Sox player to do it. He hit a leadoff homer Aug. 1, 1939, at 21 years, 116 days old. Anthony did it at 21 years, 104 days.

Anthony was Baseball America's No. 1 MLB prospect when the Red Sox promoted him to the majors June 9. He has since graduated from prospect status and showed maturity well beyond his years in the batter's box. He's hitting .283 with a .396 on-base percentage, .451 slugging percentage and .847 OPS. He has six homers, 18 doubles, 28 RBIs and 44 runs in 63 games (270 plate appearances).

"I don't ever really think about my age or anything when I'm here," Anthony said. "I don't necessarily feel young. The guys will let me know. But I think we got a group of young guys and a good mix of veteran guys and younger guys. So it all just kind of feels like we're the same age. We're just a bunch of guys having fun when we come to the park. But for me, I've always felt like I've been the youngest guy in a lot of the clubhouses that I've been in so it doesn't really hit me that much."