The Sox did a lot of good things last night against the Royals. But let’s face it. Rick Porcello stinks on ice. I’m sure he’ll rip off a hot streak at some point and I’ll have to eat a little bit of crow and acknowledge that he deserves to be a major league pitcher, but I wouldn’t trust him with a 10-run lead, let alone 3. I’m going to break this up in a way that will force me not to just rant about Rick the entire time.

Good: Red Sox Baserunning

Okay, yeah, Blake Swihart got hurt on a fielder’s choice because he was going full-tilt and slid awkwardly into third. But that aside, he also beat out a single to first base by running just as hard, his arms swinging as goofily as ever, to start the inning. And Mookie Betts made a crucial and electrifying play, going from 2nd to home on a Pedroia chopper that Sal Perez fielded in front of the plate.

Bad: Royals Baserunning

They had four stolen bases, yes. But the Sox got three outs from Royals baserunners’ poor decision-making. Twice, Brock Holt (giving Xander Bogaerts the day off at shortstop) made heads-up plays to keep a Royal from going from 3rd to home: Cain in the first inning and Escobar in the third inning. And Pedroia caught Alex Rios trying to do a little too much on a blooper in the 8th inning, doubling him off at first.

Good: Small Ball

Boston did what they’ve been doing a lot of recently: consistent, smart hitting. In a 1-1 game in the 3rd inning, Swihart doubled to lead off, and Betts wasted no time in bunting him over to third base so that Holt could double him in on a looping ball down the left field line to take the lead.

After Betts came around from 2nd on Pedroia’s grounder in the fifth inning, David Ortiz drew a walk and Hanley Ramirez came through with a broken bat single to bring Holt around from 2nd himself.

Bad: Farrell

That’s a little harsh, considering that I really only have a problem with one decision. But okay, here’s the situation. You’re down by two in the 6th inning. There’s one out, and Alejandro De Aza hits a triple to the gap in left center. Why would Farrell have Sandy Leon (.166/.247/.177) pinch-hit for an injured Blake Swihart when he has Xander Bogaerts (.285/.324/.387) sitting on the bench? I don’t get it. I guess maybe because he’s your last resort in case someone ELSE gets hurt? Still. Come on. Big time roll-over-and-die move.

Good: Mookie Betts

The aforementioned scoring from second and, of course, leading off the game with a solo home run.

Bad: Porcello

It’s not like it was just the 5th inning. He danced around trouble in the 1st and 3rd too, and he just doesn’t have the stuff he needs to get out of bad situations. I’ll say it again: what about his numbers made the Red Sox think he was worth $80 million? I won’t understand until he shows me something different. He’s a career 4.50 ERA guy through and through.

He started out the fifth with his second hit batsman of the game, then gave up two consecutive singles. Then he balked (this, to be fair was a questionable call). Then he finally got an out by way of a deep sacrifice fly to right center. The next batter grounded to third, where Sandoval made a nice scoop and a complete mess of things, throwing the ball away at first to let a run score when he had no play and hurting himself in the process. Porcello gave up a home run to Kendrys Morales to cap off the disaster, giving the Royals a 6-4 lead. Morales must’ve been sitting on something up and in. Porcello did get out of the inning himself, but that was the end of his night.

Ugly: Ortiz Throws Out the Umpire

Not sure exactly what they did to adjust here. Calling the rest of the game with just three umpires must’ve been pretty tough.

Notes:

• God damn, the Royals bullpen is good. Herrera, Davis, Holland. Good luck.