Red Sox pitching cup half-full or half-empty?

BOSTON — In spring training I asked David Ortiz what would be the key for the Red Sox this season.

“Pitching,” he said. “If we score 20 runs, what difference does that make if our pitching gives up 25?”

While the Red Sox have yet to score 20 runs or give up 25, their starting pitching has been less than inspiring. The starting pitchers began Monday with a major league-worst ERA of 6.24. OK, that’s a small sample size of 12 games. But it’s well off the Cardinals’ ML-best 1.92.

Justin Masterson’s outing Monday morning against the Orioles – five innings, one run, three hits, three walks, six strikeouts – lowered the combined ERA to 5.93. That mark is better than only Milwaukee's 5.96. The 2-11 Brewers also have the worst record in the majors.

And after beating the Orioles, 7-1, in a rain-shortened, 6 1/2-inning game at Fenway Park on Monday, the 8-5 Red Sox are still in first place in the lackluster American League East, which entered Tuesday with just two games separating the five teams. But there remain question marks and red flags for the rotation.

Masterson, at 6-feet-6 and 260 pounds, is an absolute horse. With his outing Monday, he improved to 2-0 with a 5.74 ERA, while the Sox are 3-0 in his starts. But his velocity is down. His fastball only touched 91 a couple of times on Monday and he worked mostly 85-88. His 87.1 average this season is well off his 91.4 career average and 92.7 high in 2011.

Clay Buchholz has been inconsistent and has shown he is not an ace. Rick Porcello, who matched a career high with 12 hits allowed on Sunday, has yet to show he can be an ace. Joe Kelly, who is coming off an arm injury in spring training, has had the best showing so far (1-0, 2.13 in two starts) and his average velocity of 96.0 this season is actually above his 94.7 career average. Wade Miley, a groundball pitcher has a 1.29 groundball-to-flyball outs ratio this season, his lowest since 2012. He had a 4.34 ERA in the National League last season, and is going from one home hitter’s park (Arizona’s Chase Field) to another in Fenway, with a 10.57 ERA in two starts this season.

So, what should the Red Sox do? Make a run for Cole Hamels? Another pitcher who can legitimately fill the ace role? Or just sit tight in the moribund AL East?

“I’ll tell you in about 65 games,” said pitching coach Juan Nieves. “It’s early; (the starting pitchers are) still trying to find out what they can do. The biggest thing for me is for them to not think they have to try to do more. We’ve been battling that a little bit because guys come here, they think they have to try to do more than they can.”

Are the difficulties because there are three starting pitchers that are new to the team this season along with Kelly, a trade-deadline acquisition last season?

“No, I don’t think so. To me it’s not,” Nieves said. “I think the stage for them is a little different. A new place, they want to impress. So I think once they fall into their steady-Eddy mode, I think that will help a lot.”

But how long will that take?

But Nieves is right. While 65 games may be too patient, it’s early, too early to make a panic move.

And the Red Sox have been assisted by their offense – along with opponents’ shoddy defense. In 13 games, the Sox have scored a whopping 18 unearned runs. Opponents have committed an American League-high 20 errors against the Sox. Of the seven runs they scored Monday five were unearned. They also lead the majors in walks (55) and are third in hit batters (10).

O’s left-hander Wei-Yin Chen took the loss Monday -- but his ERA fell more than a run, from 4.35 to 3.07 as he gave up five runs, none of them earned. Prior to this outing, Chen had allowed a total of four unearned runs since 2013.

The Orioles’ three errors mark the first time this season they have committed more than one in a game. It was the first time they have committed that many since making three errors on Sept. 8, 2014, at Fenway.

“The errors kind of gift wrapped or built into the four-run (third) inning, along with some base on balls,” said manager John Farrell. “At this level, you give extra outs, you’re asking for trouble. And it’s happened to us defensively. Hopefully we stay on the positive side of it going forward.”

The win earned the Sox a split of the four-game series with Baltimore, the start of 22 consecutive games against AL East opponents. Overall, the Sox are 4-3 in the division this season.

“They’re a good team,” Farrell said. “I would imagine we’re going to be neck and neck with most anyone in this division throughout. Any time you can come away with the final game of a series to earn a split, whether it’s home or road, it sends us off on positive note. We’re going to end up right back there (at Baltimore) at the end of this week going up against them for three. So, I just like the way we rebound after dropping the last couple.”

Maureen Mullen can be reached at mmullen@itemlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MaureenAMullen.