Farrell: Rodriguez ‘pretty special' through three starts

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BALTIMORE -- The question was direct. So was the answer.

Could Eduardo Rodriguez, the Red Sox precocious rookie lefty, could have possibly imagine that he would allow just one run in his first three starts for the Sox, covering some 20 2/3 innings?

"Never,'' said a candid Rodriguez with a hint of a smile. "I never imagined that. I never thought, in the big leagues, with three good starts.''

But so far, it doesn't look very tough for the 22-year old. For the third straight start, he pitched at least six innings. For the third straight start, he allowed no more than three hits. And for the third straight start, he struck out exactly seven.

This time, the Red Sox didn't get a win out of it. But that was hardly Rodriguez's fault.

"Through three starts,'' said John Farrell after the Red Sox absorbed a 1-0 shutout defeat, "we're looking at a pretty special young man.''

Special -- as in historically special.

Rodriguez became just the fourth pitcher to begin his career with three starts of at least six innings and no more than three hits allowed in any of them.

He also became the first Red Sox starter since 1914 to begin his career with at least seven strikeouts in each of his first three starts.

And he also became the first Sox starter since 1914 to begin his career with consecutive starts in which he allowed three hits or less.

His ERA stands at 0.44.

Rodriguez may not have been as efficient as he was in his first two outings. Of his six innings, he had just two in which he retired the side in order.

But when he needed to, Rodriguez got himself out of whatever minor jams he had created. A double play bailed him out of a first-and-third, one-out mess in the fourth.

His most impressive inning came in the fifth when he put the first two runners on with a single and a hit batsman -- then froze them in place, getting Manny Machado to hit into a forceout at third before overpowering both Delmon Young and Adam Jones with strikeouts.

"I think, for me, that was the best situation in the game,'' he said. 

"We've talked a lot about his poise, talked a lot about his stuff,'' said Farrell. "But clearly, in the middle innings, his competitive spirit really came through with some big pitches.''

What Rodriguez has accomplished to date hasn't been lost on his teammates.

"I think his stuff kind of speaks for itself,'' marveled Matt Barnes. "But I think (his poise) is one of those things that's sometimes overlooked - not necessarily the pitching aspect of coming up here, but everything else you have to handle. And I think he's done a really good job with that.''

That he was pitching against his former team, the one that dealt him away last July 31 in a swap for Andrew Miller, didn't seem to matter, either.

"No,'' Rodriguez said, insisting that the outing wasn't special for him. "I just feel the same, no matter what team it is and just try to do the best I can do.''

One run allowed in 20 2/3 innings? What, exactly, does Rodriguez do next?

"I just want to keep going,'' he said, "and get better every time.''

"It's awesome that he's been able to come up here and do what he's done,'' said Barnes. "It's not easy.''

Even if he sometimes makes it look that way.

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