Porcello is effective and efficient in win over Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Rick Porcello was one of the very few Red Sox players to not endure the six-hour taffy pull the rest of his teammates were engaged in Friday night into Saturday morning.

While a host of Red Sox players were rounding the bases in the 15th inning to deliver a marathon win, Porcello was sitting, watching and waiting.

As such, there was a twinge of guilt as he took the mound.

“I’m the only guy who got rest (Friday) night,’’ said Porcello, “and knowing how many guys were used out of our bullpen and how much they’ve thrown this past week, it’s important to throw deep into games this time of year.  I was fortunate enough to get some quick innings and (get) into the eighth inning. That was big for us.’’

Not big, huge. Porcello was like a machine in some innings, needing eight pitches in the first and nine in the third. In his first seven innings, he pitched to four batters over the minimum, leading the Sox to an uncomplicated 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

That was awesome,’’ said Andrew Benintendi of Porcello’s tempo and efficiency. “He was pumping the zone and getting outs early in the count. He was getting first-pitch popups and when he can do that and keep us in the dugout, hitting, it’s big.’’

Porcello got the Sox to within five outs of the finish line, and Addison Reed and Craig Kimbrel too it from there.
He had an attack plan early and stuck with it.

“We’ve played them a lot, we know that they’re an aggressive team,’’ said Porcello. “We know that they’re looking for pitches from pitch one all the way through the count to drive and we tried to expand the zone and use it to our advantage. We tried to not to get into these mid-count foul ball battles by elevating fastballs.

“It’s a tough ballclub to pitch to because, as aggressive as they are, you can use that to your advantage. But if you miss over the plate or hang a breaking ball, they have a lot of guys who can hit (pitches) a long way. So you really have to expand and be effective.’’

Mostly, Porcello got some mishits and, as another measure that his trademark two-seamer was working well, a ton of ground balls. And when he wasn’t getting the Rays to pound the ball into the turf, he was expert and getting them to get underneath changeups and curveballs, resulting in weak popups on the infield.

It was, in short, the kind of performance that Porcello enjoyed on a regular basis last year when he won the American League Cy Young Award.  This season hasn’t been nearly as successful – even with the win, he still has 17 losses and a 4.46.

And yes, those numbers are deceiving, according to his manager.

“When we score runs for him,’’ said John Farrell, “he’s as good a pitcher as we saw all last year. I know the ERA is a little more inflated this year, but when we score three or more runs for him, we’re in pretty good shape when he’s on the mound.’’

Indeed, when the Red Sox have scored three or more runs for Porcello – as they did Saturday night – he’s 10-0 with a 3.69 ERA, and the Red Sox are a perfect 13-0 in those games.

“He was great,’’ said Porcello. “He was keeping them off balance, keeping them off base. He was doing everything – mixing all his pitches for strikes, filling up the zone. I mean, he did everything right today.’’

And quickly, too.