The Boston Red Sox Tuesday, April 4, 2017 * The Boston Globe Five-run fifth inning helped – and hurt – Rick Porcello Anthony Gulizia The flat fastball that Rick Porcello left dangerously high in the strike zone was a clear indicator that the defending American League Cy Young winner had finally began to tire. Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli belted it for a double. After Porcello gave up a single, his third of the seventh inning, two batters later, his first outing of the season was finished. He exited with a 5-1 lead, struck out five batters and allowed six hits, and received loud applause from the 36,594 in attendance. Aside from the seventh-inning blemish, Porcello pitched well in the Red Sox’ 5-3 win against the Pirates. He was charged with three earned runs, two of which reliever Matt Barnes inherited and allowed to score. Porcello opposed Pirates ace Gerrit Cole, who did not falter until he surrendered five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Until then, he had held the Red Sox to one hit and one walk. “Both guys were throwing a heck of a game into the fifth inning,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “They’re matching pitch for pitch, zeros into that fifth inning. Farrell said he felt Porcello began to tire following a stagnant bottom of the fifth, when the Red Sox scored five and batted all nine hitters in the order. “When we extended the inning in the fifth, it started to take its toll after a long inning,” Farrell said. “You could see the stuff maybe got a little bit tight going out for the sixth inning. He got through it fine. Any time you’re starting to elevate pitches — his cutter was up and in to Cervelli — those are pitches where maybe fatigue starts to set in.” The Red Sox righthander worked through the sixth after Adam Frazier reached base following Pablo Sandoval’s throwing error. Porcello got Starling Marte to fly out and struck out Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco. He began the seventh inning with a single to David Freese on another pitch that was left up in the zone. “It was a bit of a battle,” said Porcello, who was 22-4 last season. “I wasn’t that sharp with my sinker and some pitches throughout the game, just fighting it all the way through. “You just kind of understand coming into it that physically, you might feel like you’re in midseason form,” added Porcello, who made his first Opening Day start. “Mentally, there are some things, you just don’t want to get ahead of yourself. And that was my main thing in my head, not let any of the innings turn into big innings and slow the game when I need it to, but establish some tempo when I needed to.” Barnes echoed a similar sentiment and said he would not rush to evaluate his performance after one game, but prefers to wait two or three because the scenarios are typically different than they were a few days ago in spring training, when the results hardly mattered. “I felt good today,” Barnes said. “It’s a little different pitching against these fans and big leaguers in an entire game that actually matters to our standings. It’s a completely different setting. It kind of takes an outing or two to get reacclimated to the setting and the scene and we’ll be ready to roll.” Farrell, meanwhile, said he felt Porcello was well-prepared heading into the start. “Very capable on his part,” Farrell said. “We talked about his preparedness, the competitiveness. All those things were here. He was ready for today and was very strong through sixth and for me kept the game under control.” Porcello fended off hitters earlier in the game by establishing his fastball and mixing it with a slider against the Pirates’ righthanders. He retired the Pirates in order in the first, fourth and fifth innings. He allowed a pair of singles and a walk in the second, but worked around it by getting the final two batters to fly out and strike out. It helped that catcher Sandy Leon threw Freese out when he tried to steal second base. “He was getting ahead in the count,” Leon said of Porcello. “He was mixing in his curveball and changeup. He did a great job. Get ahead in the count and go from there. “We were working on [the slider] in the second and third inning and it was really good.” That slider ended the third inning, a 2-and-2 offering to McCutchen that he missed. After a day off on Tuesday, the Red Sox will turn to lefty Chris Sale, who makes his debut at Fenway Park after being acquired from the White Sox. “Yeah, I’ve seen him pitch enough on the other side and I’m really excited to watch him on the same team,” Porcello said. “He’s as good as it gets. I don’t think there’s another lefthander in the game as nasty as he is.” Andrew Benintendi blasts off for Red Sox Julian Benbow Andrew Benintendi has a cloak of cool that seems to never come off. Even with the bunting hanging from the Fenway Park facades and the mayor of Boston, the owner of the Red Sox, and the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots on the field with all of their Lombardi trophies, Benintendi looked out at the field through his shades, leaning against one of the poles in the Red Sox dugout as if he were getting ready for the photo shoot for the cover art of his debut album and not his Opening Day debut. If he had even the slightest bit of nerves, he never showed it. “He’s just real cool, real chill,” Sox right fielder Mookie Betts said. “But he has that quiet confidence that you love in a player.” Benintendi took the pregame ceremony for what it was: the celebration of the start of another season. He paid close attention to the ovation that Betts got a year after an MVP-caliber season, the praise that Chris Sale was showered with for his first game in a Sox uniform, and the euphoria still lingering as the Patriots were honored for bringing another championship trophy to New England. “It was awesome,” he said. “The fans were awesome. The opening ceremonies and everything like that were cool to be a part of.” But the moment didn’t overwhelm him. He was well aware that at 22 years and 231 days old, he was the youngest player to start in left field for the Red Sox on Opening Day since Tony Conigliaro stepped on the field as a 20-year-old in 1965. Hitting in the two-hole behind Dustin Pedroia, who was making his 11th straight Opening Day appearance, didn’t shake him either. “I know my role,” he said. “I hit there all spring training, so I feel pretty comfortable with it.” He was also aware of the expectations and attention that have been attached to him. But he was pressure-free in the Sox 5-3 win Monday over the Pirates, smooth in the field and clutch at the plate, going 1 for 4 with a three-run homer that helped the Sox start their season on the right foot. “I don’t feel any pressure,” Benintendi said. “Just go out there and play well. Our main goal is to win, and when you do that, people will be happy.” In his first two plate appearances, Benintendi felt out Pirates starter Gerrit Cole, working six pitches out of him before striking out in the first inning, then seeing six more in the third. But when the Sox were trying to string hits together and put runs on the board with two outs in the fifth, the youngest player on the field was the anchor. Jackie Bradley Jr. sparked the inning with a two-out single into the right-field corner, and Pablo Sandoval kept it going by beating out an infield single to push Bradley across and give the Sox a 1-0 lead. Sandy Leon kept the inning alive, seeing the left side of the infield unattended and dropping down a bunt that caught the Pirates by surprise. After Pedroia shot an RBI single up the middle to give the Sox a 2-0 lead, the table was set for Benintendi. His approach didn’t change. Cole, still rattled by Leon’s bunt, was having trouble finding the strike zone, and Benintendi waited him out. After Cole missed with a first-pitch changeup, he battled back to put Benintendi in a 1-and-2 hole. Cole tried to put Benintendi away with a knuckle curve, but Benintendi didn’t bite, letting it dive into the dirt for ball 2. When Cole tried to pump a 98-mile-per-hour fastball by him, up and in, Benintendi turned on it and launched it deep to right field. As it sailed, Benintendi wasn’t sure if the wind would knock it down. Instead, the ball dropped into the Pirates bullpen, and Benintendi circled the bases. As important as the homer was, what struck Sox manager John Farrell was the discipline at the plate that’s been Benintendi’s signature. “He’s got a short track record we know,” Farrell said. “[But] there’s never been evidence of panic even in a two-strike situation. He sees the ball extremely well. He has a true understanding of the strike zone.