FORT MYERS, Fla. -- It may have "only been spring training,'' as the saying goes, but before Monday's start, Justin Masterson carried an unsightly 5.11 ERA over his first four appearances of the spring.
Admittedly, most of that bloated figure was the result of a particularly awful appearance in Clearwater against the Phillies two weeks ago, when he was hammered for six runs on seven hits in just 3 1/3 innings.
Still, Masterson had to welcome the kind of outing he had Monday night against the Minnesota Twins, tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in a 14-2 Red Sox win over the Twins.
The one run against him was unearned thanks to an error by Shane Victorino. Masterson threw 91 pitches, 62 of which were strikes.
Masterson allowed just five hits while walking one and striking out four. Of the 17 outs he recorded, eight came on the ground -- and another would have resulted in an out were it not for an error by Dustin Pedroia.
Was it the best he felt all spring?
"A combination of feeling good and feeling strong and for the most part hitting my spots, yes,'' said Masterson, "which is exactly what we've been talking about: moving in the right direction. It's nice (to have a good outing), but if I didn't, I'd still feel fine. We're working hard in between starts and putting it out there. Again, working in the right direction.''
Boston Red Sox
Masterson had to wait a long time to pitch the top of the fifth after the Red Sox batted around in the bottom of the fourth, scoring six times.
But it didn't seem to impact him on the mound and Masterson expected that with the powerful Boston lineup, there will be more like those over the course of the season.
"That was great,'' said Masterson. "There's going to be some ups and downs, but I think they're going to do that a lot.''
Officially, the Red Sox are undecided about who will start the third game of the season after Opening Day choice Clay Buchholz and Game 2 starter Rick Porcello.
With Joe Kelly likely to start the season on the DL, the choice comes down to either Masterson or lefty Wade Miley.
Both the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees will have lineups that feature plenty of lefties, against whom Masterson has had difficulty.
But with the Yankees capable of fielding a lineup with eight lefties -- thanks to a number of switch-hitters -- it's a safe bet that Masterson will pitch the final game against the Phils at Citizens Bank Park, rather than the series opener in Yankee Stadium the next night.