McAdam: Finally, a starter answers the call for the Red Sox as Eduardo Rodriguez sparkles in win

It was a night of firsts.

For the first time this season, the Red Sox won consecutive games.

For the first time this season, they scored early and never lost the lead.

And for the first time this season -- and first time since last August, in fact -- they got a homer from Andrew Benintendi.

But what was most noteworthy was that they got an honest-to-goodness, deep, dominant start from a member of their starting rotation.

What a concept.

"We've been waiting,'' said Alex Cora, "for a start like this for two weeks.''

It had, indeed, been a while. Through the first 13 games, the Red Sox had gotten exactly one quality start from a starter. They had not had a single starter pitch beyond the sixth inning. And, it should stand to reason, they didn't yet have a win from any of their starting pitcher.

But Eduardo Rodriguez changes all that. He came out blazing, dotting his fastball in the mid-to-upper 90s with precision around the strike zone, working quickly and getting a boatload of swings and misses on his trademark changeup.

He didn't allow a baserunner until there were two out in the fifth. And he was a strike away from giving the Sox seven shutout innings before Dwight Smith Jr. drove a 1-and-2 fastball into the seats in right for a two-run homer in the seventh.

It was the lone blemish on the night for Rodriguez, but there was no taking away from the overall effort.

"There was conviction, great tempo, and execution,'' marveled Cora of the lefty.

And it was done with a nod to the past. Earlier in the week, Rodriguez worked with Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez in the bullpen and found himself making some adjustments.

"I changed my mechanics to go back to when I got to the big leagues,'' said Rodriguez. "As soon as I got in the game, I saw my first pitch was like 94-95 mph. I had my fastball and I was in command, so I started throwing a lot more and I was feeling really good. I was throwing the fastball right where I wanted for most of the game, so that set up my other pitches, too.''

Rodriguez got an astounding 23 swings and misses of the 93 pitches he threw and probably could have survived with just his fastball and changeup. But for good measure, he could occasionally flip some cutters into the mix and a slider, too.

In his first two starts of the season, Rodriguez didn't feel very fluid with his delivery and turned to Martinez for some input.

"I was feeling a little stuck in my upper body,'' Rodriguez said. "I changed it to get more smooth and I had a pretty good rhythm. I would say (I had been searching for a better fastball) since I got to spring training, because it was like 91-92 mph all the time. But for me, it was all about my mechanics. You see the difference between the last start and this one and the velocity got back, too. The (better velocity) and the changeup was what got me to the big leagues, and that's what was working today.''

The start was a textbook example of what Rodriguez is capable of when he's on. When he works quickly, stays ahead and attacks the strike zone, he can make the best lineups appear overmatched. The Orioles, obviously, don't have that explosive batting order, so at times Friday, Rodriguez represented a mismatch.

The first hit off him was a sharp ground ball into left field, but not hit particularly hard. Through the first five innings, the Orioles got the ball out of the infield just three times.

And because Rodriguez was so efficient with his pitch mix, his pitch count remained modest, allowing him to take the Sox into the seventh inning. Even when he faltered with the two-run homer, he left just seven outs for the bullpen to record, a far cry from nearly every other outing from a Boston starter this year.

The Sox, in turn, fed off his efficiency and dominance.

"Eddie set the tone early,'' said Benintendi. "That got us going. I think momentum starts on the mound and Eddie did a really nice job.''

The trick now will be to ensure that these type of starts don't come every two weeks, but rather, more regularly.