BOSTON — Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello has two wins in two starts to begin the 2016 season, and both victories have come against one of the best lineups in all of baseball.
Porcello went 6 1/3 innings in a 5-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park on Friday night. He allowed just two hits, three earned runs, walked one and struck out eight.
“He did a really nice job of throwing his fastball to both sides of the plate. Against a powerful, right-handed hitting lineup, I thought he pitched effectively,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “He used enough secondary pitches to set up his fastball. He and (Christian) Vazquez hooked up well, and the execution on Rick’s part was very good tonight.”
Outside of two mistakes that resulted in a pair of two-run homers, both hit by Edwin Encarnacion, Porcello kept the Toronto lineup at bay. Encarnacion was the only one of the nine Blue Jays batters to tally a hit, and at one point from the second inning through the sixth inning, Porcello had retired 13 straight hitters.
“He was attacking the zone. The sinker was moving a lot. He had a couple bumps, but a great night for him. I’m proud of him,” Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez said.
Porcello didn’t have the best debut season for the Red Sox in 2015, but judging by his first two starts of this campaign, better results are in store for the veteran in 2016. He’s not letting mistakes pile up, his command is solid (15 strikeouts and just two walks) and he’s giving Farrell six or more innings.
“I feel good,” Porcello said. “There’s a lot of things I need to continue to improve on. I’d like to finish that game a little better than I did (Friday night), but I feel very good.”
— Jackie Bradley Jr. has hit safely in seven of the eight games he’s played this season. He went 2 for 4 on Friday.
— Mookie Betts started the season 3 for 23 at the plate, but he has eight hits in his last four games. He was 1 for 5 with an RBI single.
— Eight of David Ortiz’s 10 hits have gone for extra bases. He already has 10 RBIs on the season, too.
— Ortiz also stole a base in the seventh inning, giving us this interesting stat.
It was Ortiz’s first steal since July 21, 2013.
— The Red Sox scored three times in the first inning. It was the first time Toronto had allowed a first-inning run all season.
— The Red Sox bullpen pitched well again after being called on in the seventh inning after Porcello gave up his second two-run homer to Encarnacion. Junichi Tazawa recorded the last two outs of the seventh, then Koji Uehara and Craig Kimbrel pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to close the game.
The bullpen allowed just one hit, one walk and struck out four in 2 2/3 innings. Kimbrel has struck out one or more batters in each of his last 25 appearances.
“They’ve been tremendous. We’ve got a real talented bullpen,” Porcello said. “They’re doing exactly what they’re capable of doing.”
— Encarnacion notched the 22nd multi-homer game of his career, and three of them have come against the Red Sox (all since 2014). He entered Friday with zero home runs on the season.
— Blue Jays starter R.A. Dickey has pitched against the Sox twice this season and struggled both times. He’s given up 14 hits and 11 runs (seven earned) over 9 2/3 innings. His knuckleball has been far from effective.
Christian Vazquez shines in return to Red Sox lineup >>
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
