McAdam: Starting rotation settles in for Red Sox

It took exactly four weeks -- far longer than they had either expected or hoped -- but in the wake of the Red Sox' 7-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers, it can be said with some degree of certainty that the Sox' starting rotation has achieved a degree of stability.

No more are the starters tripping and falling by the third or fourth inning. No longer are homers being rocketed out of the ballpark at a record pace.

Crisis averted.



That doesn't, in and of itself, make the Red Sox unbeatable, as a doubleheader sweep at the hands of these same Tigers served to remind everyone only a few days ago.

But the incontrovertible truth is in. The rotation is, on a nightly basis, giving the team a chance to win games again -- a seemingly modest ask, but one which was painfully absent through the first two weeks of the season.

Rick Porcello earned his first win of the year by giving up three runs on six hits over six innings. Those may not be eye-popping numbers, but the outing was more than enough to give the Sox a chance to club a handful of Tigers pitchers, beginning with starter Jordan Zimmermann.

What's more, the night continued a stretch in which the starters have begun to do their respective jobs. Over the last 11 games, Red Sox starters have combined to pitch to a 3.30 ERA. And in 12 of their last 13 starts, Boston starters have allowed three earned runs or fewer.

It helps, too, that as the starters routinely get into the sixth inning or better, the bullpen isn't being as overworked on a nightly basis. On Thursday, after Porcello's six innings, the Sox could hand an inning each over to three different relievers, all of whom contributed scoreless frames.

Couple that with an offense which has come to life in the friendly home environment of Fenway Park and the Sox suddenly look formidable again.

When they didn't win in the early going, the rotation was obviously the root cause. Now that things have improved, the rotation gets some credit.

"Starting pitching sets the tone,'' said Porcello. "Most importantly, we live and die by the wins and losses. That's the part that hurts the most, especially those first couple of weeks. We were digging our team a hole each game that it was virtually impossible for our offense to get things going and do what they needed to do.'

"So to be able to stabilize and go out there and allow our guys to execute their game plan on offense has been huge.''

Porcello had been the last of the starters to turn things around. After being shelled for 11 runs in his first two starts of the season - failing to get out of the third one time and out of the fifth another -- he's had two starts in a row in which he's allowed either two or three earned runs.

Most mysteriously, Porcello seemingly couldn't throw strikes. Ordinarily pinpoint with his location, he issued 12 walks over his first three, owing to a mechanical glitch which he's corrected.

"You go through peaks and valleys,'' said Porcello philosophically. "What's important is, when you're in those valleys, to grind your way out and not give in and not get too mentally frustrated. Hopefully, as a team and myself, we're on the ascent and we're getting out of this valley and continue to play good baseball.''

Cora credited better fastball usage as the reason for the improving outings while Porcello said it was a case of being more aggressive, "attacking guys, not giving free passes and establishing the fastball.''

Porcello believes there's more there there for the rotation.

"I think we're all throwing the ball a lot better,'' he said. "I think we have a lot more in the tank as well. I think we all have a lot of room to get better. I know that I have a lot of room to get better, and we're going to continue that.''

For now, however, what they've shown in the last two weeks is miles better than the first two weeks of the season.