BOSTON--For the season, the Red Sox starting rotation posted the third-lowest ERA in the American League for the 2016 season, and measuring from the All-Star break on, the lowest, period.
But as the Red Sox begin the 2016 post-season, there's this sobering reminder: between the four Red Sox starters -- Rick Porcello, David Price, Clay Buchholz and Eduardo Rodriguez -- the Sox can't claim a single post-season win in the past.
"Everybody's got to win their first one before they win their second one,'' shrugged Buchholz, dismissing the significance of past post-season success. "It's part of it. I think there's only a couple of us who have had more than five opportunities to win a game in post-season.
"With (Porcello) in Game 1, everybody knows what he's done this year. I don't think anything is going to change from that. And like I said in spring training, we signed one of the best pitchers in the world, so DP (Price) is going to step up and do what he does.''
Price's post-season history is, of course, well known. He is 0-7 with a 5.27 ERA.
At his introductory press conference at Fenway last winter, Price made light of his past struggles.
"I think,'' he said, tongue in cheek, "I was just saving all my post-season wins for the Red Sox. I know good things are going to happen to me in October.''
Boston Red Sox
Porcello doesn't have the record of futility that Price has, with just two post-season starts. He made two back in 2011 -- one of which was good (two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings); the other of which wasn't (four earned runs in six innings) and has a 4.26 ERA and an 0-1 mark.
Numbers, can be deceiving, too. Buchholz is winless in five starts, but the Sox won three of those and he pitched well in all but one outing -- a poor showing in an ALCS start against Detroit in 2013.
Rodriguez didn't make his major league debut until 2015, and has never had the opportunity to pitch in the playoffs.
"You can't change what's happened in the past,'' Porcello told the Boston Herald recently. "All you can do is change what's coming toward us.’’