Red Sox: Top five performances of opening series vs Pittsburgh Pirates
By Jimmy Longo
Rick Porcello
Coming off of a Cy Young season, the typical hype around winners tends to be much of the same as of late. Clayton Kershaw‘s dominance is unquestioned, the prospects of Madison Bumgarner are established.
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The last Red Sox pitcher to have that kind of acknowledgement surrounding him was a late-90s Pedro Martinez.
Still, chatter around Boston raises the question of whether or not Porcello’s season was a fluke, and whether or not we will get the same pitcher we saw a year ago, or the same pitcher we saw have a disastrous first summer in Boston — or a mix of in between.
Porcello’s first start looked like the same we saw all of last season.
My personal opinion on the matter is that Porcello is really entering the cornerstone of his career. Surrounded by quality run support, an increased command of his pitches and bolstered in a staff that at times has all five starters as former All-Stars, Porcello’s real deal is the real deal.
All Porcello did was give the Red Sox six and one third innings of three-run baseball, leaving with the score 5-1 before Matt Barnes allowed both of his inherited runners to score.
Porcello struck out five Pirates and only surrendered one walk, a continuing plus for the Red Sox.
It was Porcello’s 42nd straight start of at least five innings of work, the second-longest streak for the Red Sox since 1913 and the active leader in the American League.