McAdam: For a change, Red Sox enjoy a relatively easy win

Other than a lopsided win on Opening Day, every other Red Sox game through the first two weeks of this trying season has neatly fallen into one of two categories: blowout losses where the Red Sox fall behind early, then watch the deficit grow — or taut one- or two-run affairs that go down to very final out.

It's been extreme or the other: embarrassing loss, or nail-biters.

That's why Wednesday's relatively easy 5-0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Rays was such a welcome sight on the final day of a road trip which began well enough in one borough of New York, got completely derailed in another and eventually made its way to Florida.

While Martin Perez danced around danger for the first five innings, needing an alarming 91 pitches to record just 15 outs, he finally got some backing with a two-run homer from Alex Verudgo. In the top of the sixth, a two-run shot from Michael Chavis and a run-scoring single from Christian Vazquez extended the lead further and that was basically that.

No drama. No potential tying run on base in the final inning or two. Just a relatively routine win, which at the end of the trip, was welcome indeed.

"It was big, it definitely was,'' said Chavis. "We just cruised through.''

The Red Sox have grown accustomed to not leading at all in the early innings of games, a condition which is reflected in this statistic: Before Wednesday night, the Red Sox had been outscored 21-5 through the first two innings.



On many nights, the Red Sox had a desperation to them in the early going, knowing that they have to claw back from a multi-run deficit that their pitchers have dug. Undoubtedly, it's led to some hitters pressing, chasing pitches out of the strike zone in search of a big swing that put the team back in the game.

The mere occasion, then, of leading 2-0 in the top of the fourth was almost reason for celebration. And just for good measure, this time, the Red Sox padded the lead and pulled away.

"I think it's huge,'' said Verdugo. "We've had a lot of games, coming back, fighting a little bit, trying to get the adrenaline going and stuff like that. Today, just to come out and get the early lead and to hold it the whole game....great job by our pitching staff. They did what they had to. Today I think was just the offense, defense, the pitching, everybody was all firing on the right cylinders.''

Up 5-0 by the time Perez was done, Ron Roenicke was able to line up his bullpen the rest of the night, getting an inning each from Colten Brewer and Austin Brice before deploying his tag-team combo of Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman for the final two.

It's a luxury he hasn't had often. Too many times, he's either given mop-up innings to evaluate some of the new pitchers on hand, or mixed-and-matched his way through an opposing lineup, hoping to hold on to a precarious lead.

"No doubt, it was different,'' said a relieved Roenicke.

It helped, too, to provide some work for Barnes and Workman in spots that were hardly high-leverage situations. With the benefit of a big lead, both relievers could attack hitters and not worry about one mistake endangering the lead.

Barnes appeared to be focused on his fastball command, which was far better than in New York. As for Workman, he showed some frustration when he issued a leadoff walk in the ninth, but he quickly righted himself to strike out the next three hitters, ending the night with a flourish.

In that respect, it was like turning back the clock two weeks for Barnes and Workman, as though they were back in summer camp -- facing quality hitters, but without the pressures of a game on the mind.

With another day off on the schedule Thursday, the night had a more relaxed feel for the Sox - a rare night in which they were in control from start to finish.

It's something they've not experienced much in the first two weeks. It was a return to normalcy, for nine innings at least, in a season in which almost nothing has been ordinary, and for the Red Sox, a season in which almost nothing has been easy.