Make that 13-0 for Rick Porcello at Fenway Park this season.
And he currently has the most wins among everybody, too.
Porcello entered the day tied with Toronto Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ for the MLB lead with 17 wins. He’s now 18-3 on the season.
“I think it means that we have a heck of a team, really,” Porcello said. “That’s what you look at with the way our offense is built.”
With seven innings of three-run ball from Porcello, who now sports a 3.26 ERA, the Red Sox ran away with this one and remained two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. They’re two games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for the first wild card.
Porcello has made a compelling case to be the choice to start a one-game, do-or-die wild card game should the Sox have the luxury of lining up their rotation.
It’s not simply that Porcello has been a model of consistency from the mound. It also must be noted that his teammates are scoring 6.6 runs per game when he pitches. Last night was the 11th time this season they’ve scored at least eight for him.
“Yeah, I truly believe that our guys feel relaxed, confident, however you want to describe it, knowing that Rick’s on the mound,” manager John Farrell said. “Whether that allows us to go out and have more quality at-bats or maybe not press like we have to get something done, knowing that Rick is going to keep us in the ballgame, likely low runs, it’s been a fantastic combination. Obviously Rick here in Fenway has been unbeatable and that’s a pretty steep run that he’s on.”
After the Sox staked Porcello a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Mookie Betts hit his 30th homer of the year and Brock Holt collected an RBI single, Porcello committed one of baseball’s cardinal sins when he relinquished the lead right away. The Rays plated two runs on four singles and a sacrifice fly in the third.
But the visitors barely touched him the rest of the way as Porcello completed seven innings of work, holding the Rays to just one hit in his final four frames. He recorded seven strikeouts, four in his last two innings.
“That’s pitching,” Porcello said.
This has been quite the stretch for the Red Sox rotation. It features several leaders in ERA since the beginning of July, Porcello ranks ninth in MLB (9-1, 2.60), David Price 14th (5-3, 2.87) and Drew Pomeranz, who starts for the Sox tonight, 26th (3-3, 3.24).
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