Some caveats, off the top:
Yes, it's early. Ridiculously early, in fact. It's been one series. And three games represent 1.85 percent of the schedule.
Also, while the Baltimore Orioles are competitive, they lack an obvious ace. It could be argued, in fact, that any team which deploys Kyle Gibson as its Opening Day starter lacks even a legitimate No. 2 or No. 3 starter, too.
So yes, context matters.
With those important disclaimers out of the way, the Red Sox have scored 27 runs in their first three games, nine in each. They've done it once when the game-time temperature was 38 degrees and another, Sunday, in which the game-time temperate was 48.
As cold as it's been, the Red Sox bats have been hot.
It was more of the same Sunday in a 9-5 victory over the Orioles, Boston's second straight. The Red Sox scored one run in each of their first three innings and never let up. When the Orioles countered with three in the top of the fifth, the Red Sox canceled those with three of their own. And when the Orioles entertained thoughts about one more comeback in the top of the seventh, scoring twice in the top of the inning, the Red Sox once again stood their ground with two of their own again.
In all, they scored at least once in six of their eight turns at bat.
They were, in a word, relentless.
For the last few weeks of spring training, Alex Cora had unapologetically promoted his lineup. What they lacked in obvious firepower, he vowed, they would more than make up for with a move-the-line approach, like one wave after another. So far, the lineup has done more than validate the manager's belief; they've surpassed it.
They've done it in different ways. In the opener, they scored nine without a homer. On Saturday, they scored nine again and used four homers to get there, including Adam Duvall's walk-off blast in the ninth, his second of the day. On Sunday, they got a solo shot from Kiké Hernandez.
But mostly, it's been as Cora had forecast: grinding out at-bats, working walks, and putting the ball in play.
This isn't a quick-strike offense, waiting around for a three-run homer to power their attack. This is a death-by-a-thousand-cuts attack, with hard-hit singles and doubles sandwiched around bloops and ground balls snaking through the infield.
The elimination of the infield shift will help, too. The Red Sox have a number of key left-handed hitters who don't have to worry about trying to drive the ball past three outfielders on the right side. Already, BABIP -- batting average on balls in play -- is up substantially across the sport, and teams that rely on extended innings, with one hit after another, will benefit the most.
"We're going to put the ball in play,'' said Cora Sunday. "Today wasn't the greatest day (in terms of) exit velocity but we put the ball in play when it mattered. That's what we're trying to accomplish.''
In the fifth, Cora took the somewhat unorthodox step of having Christian Arroyo put down a bunt with no out to move two runners into scoring position. You won't see Cora giving up outs often, but he thought the timing was right to go for the kill. One well-timed base hit would give the Sox two additional runs as they tried to separate themselves from the O's. As it turned out, the Sox were blanked that inning, but it was an interesting window into how he views his offense and its capability.
"The quality of the bats, the guys that we have -- (Masataka) Yoshida, (Alex) Verdugo, even (Rafael Devers),'' said Cora. (Devers) swings and misses at times, but when it matters, he'll put it in play. From top to bottom, we believe we're going to put pressure on the opposition. There's certain days it isn't going to work, but we will grind and do what we did over the weekend.''
"It feels really good,'' said Verdugo of the lineup's early production. "We know who we are as a team, we know who we are hitting-wise. We've got guys who fight every at-bat, see pitches and work counts and just keep the line moving. That's the biggest thing we're seeing.''
Over the winter, as the roster got constructed, the fear was that the Sox would be too dependent on Devers, whom the team extended for a 10-year deal. And what would happen if Devers didn't see any pitches to hit, as the lone power threat in the order? What then?
But that analysis missed the point, according to Verdugo.
"For us, there's not going to be one set guy that's going to hold this whole team up and keep going,'' he said. "It's going to be every single one of us. Everybody's going to contribute and everybody's going to come up big in their own time.''
Again, it's dangerous to draw too much from three games. Let's see how the Red Sox fare against better pitching staffs like Tampa Bay, Houston and Toronto before we declare the offense a force.
"We're probably not going to average nine runs a game all year long,'' conceded Hernandez. "But I do believe that's what we're capable of.''