Porcello guts out a shaky start
The Red Sox pitchers know a thing or two about one bad inning devolving into several more and having a relatively close game turn into a blowout loss.
In fact, one need only go back a couple of days to see a good example of that.
There’s something to be said, then, for the ability to withstand an early barrage, hunker down and stop the onslaught dead in its tracks. That’s what Rick Porcello did yesterday in a 12-5 win over the Rangers at Fenway Park.
Porcello, who allowed four runs in the first inning, was far from dominant in his six innings, allowing 12 hits and only striking out three. But he stranded five runners and escaped enough jams to allow his offense to come through with more than enough runs to win.
For a staff that entered with the 11th-best ERA in the American League, the Sox will take a lessthanperfect- but- good- enough performance like that anytime, especially on the heels of a 21-2 loss on Saturday to the Angels.
“I’m definitely proud of that,” said Porcello, who ran his record to 10-2 with a 3.82 ERA. “Definitely proud of the fact that I was able to go six and put up zeroes after (the first inning). I think that’s a lot of the reason why we were able to do what we did offensively, was shut them down after that. If they come back and they tack on runs after that, it kind of deflates you mentally a little bit.”
Maybe there was a little mental deflation after the first, as Porcello gave up four hits with two outs, starting with an Adrian Beltre RBI single to center. Rougned Odor and Jurickson Profar also drove in runs, but Porcello didn’t let it snowball.
Each inning after that, he allowed runners to reach base, allowing two hits in both the third and fourth innings, but each time the Rangers came up empty. Porcello didn’t walk anyone.
“He had three opportunities for shutdown innings and converted each one,” Sox manager John Farrell said. “And that’s such a huge shift to maintain momentum on our side. They did string together the four consecutive twoout base hits but he did bend, he didn’t break.
“And we’re able to get right back in it the way we’re swinging the bats.”
In the sixth inning with his pitch count creeping toward 100, Porcello allowed a one-out single to Elvis Andrus. But the right-hander struck out Robinson Chirinos and Shin-Soo Choo, both swinging, to keep his team ahead, 6-4, before the Sox broke out to a more comfortable lead in the bottom of the frame.
“I think that there’s times when you’re facing good hitting lineups, summertime at Fenway Park, where you’ve just got to go out there and grind through it and get the outs and really just look to win ball games,” Porcello said. “There’s times when it’s not going to be pretty, but we won the game and definitely happy for that.”