BOSTON — Another dominant offensive showing by the Red Sox on Wednesday made Rick Porcello’s job a whole lot easier.
The right-hander battled through some early-inning struggles to cruise to his team-best sixth win of the season, allowing three runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings as Boston blew past the Oakland A’s once again to win 13-3 in the finale of their three-game series at Fenway Park.
Porcello, who improved to 6-1 with the win, allowed a run in the second inning and two more in the third but kept Oakland off the board the rest of the way, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and retiring the side in order in three of his six complete frames.
“The way the guys have been swinging the bats, I knew I just had to minimize big innings and keep us in the game,” said Porcello, who now has tossed at least six innings in 15 consecutive starts. “You can’t say enough about what they’ve been doing. It’s unbelievable, top to bottom, the damage they’ve been doing.
The Red Sox outscored the A’s 40-15 in the series, scoring 13 or more runs in three straight games for the first time in franchise history.
Some additional notes from Wednesday:
— The Red Sox thoroughly abused Oakland’s starting pitchers throughout the series. Sonny Gray, Sean Manaea and Eric Surkamp combined to toss just nine total innings and were tagged for 19 earned runs on 22 hits.
— Â Chris Young is beginning to do what the Red Sox envisioned him doing when they signed him this past offseason.
Known for his success against left-handed pitching, the outfielder roped doubles off the Green Monster against southpaw A’s starter Eric Surkamp in both the second and third innings. Young came around to score on Jackie Bradley Jr.’s three run home run after his first two-bagger, and his second drove in Dustin Pedroia with Boston’s fourth run of the night.
After a forgettable start to the season, Young has gone 5-for-9Â over his last two games and improved his average against lefties to .333. He’s also been a doubles machine, with seven of his 11 hits this season going for two bases.
“I think any guy’s going to get more comfortable with more consistent reps,” Farrell said. “… He’s doing exactly what we brought him here to do, and that’s drive the ball against some left-handers.”
— Jackie Bradley Jr. continues to tear the cover off the ball.
The center fielder got the Red Sox started with a three-run home run in the bottom of the second inning, extending his hitting streak — the longest active streak in the majors — to 17 games in the process. He also added an RBI double in the fifth and a two-run homer in the eighth to complete his second consecutive six-RBI night.
— Sean O’Sullivan has earned himself a second big league start.
Farrell confirmed before Wednesday’s game that the 28-year-old right-hander, who threw six innings and earned the win Tuesday night, would pitch Sunday against the Houston Astros.
— Joe Kelly allowed one run on five hits over five innings Wednesday in a rehab start with Triple-A Pawtucket.
Both Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez, who will start for the PawSox on Friday, should be healthy enough to rejoin the big league club within the next week or two, which will leave Farrell with some difficult rotation-related decisions.
“It hasn’t been outlined (to any starter) as, ‘Hey, this is a make-or-break start,’ ” the manager said. “We’ve got areas that have obvious room for improvement, and we’re working every day to achieve that.”
Farrell added there is a chance Kelly returns before Rodriguez, who suffered a knee injury during spring training and has yet to appear in a big league game this season.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
