Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

For Sox starters, bond blossoms on links

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Where to find the ties that bind?

Wade Miley suggests you start with a golf course. That’s the place, he said Tuesday, where the five members of Boston’s revamped starting rotation have begun the bonding process.

“That’s what golf does,’’ the Red Sox left-hander said. “Any time you get to play golf, it’s going to be fun here.’’

Ask Miley the pecking order of pitchers based on their prowess on the links, and you get an answer suspiciously similar to the one you get when asking their order in the rotation.

“It’s pretty competitive,’’ he said, “but I think we’re all the same, just knocking it around, just having a good time.’’

Anyone expecting Miley to rank fellow starters Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Joe Kelly, Justin Masterson and himself from top to bottom was bound to be disappointed, which is about the same reaction Porcello evoked when asked what it would mean to start Opening Day.

“I think our goal as a team is the same,’’ he said. “I don’t care who pitches Opening Day. I don’t care who pitches the second, third, fourth or fifth game. The ring is the only thing that matters.’’

Logic points to Buchholz being the Opening Day starter. He’s the only one of the five who has been here for more than a half hour, or so it seems. Kelly came in a trading-deadline deal with the Cardinals last July; Miley, Porcello and Masterson all were added in the offseason, Miley and Porcello by trade, Masterson via free-agent signing. Buchholz is entering his ninth season with the Sox, beginning with a four-start stint in 2007 that included a no-hitter, and if he’s healthy he’s deserving.

By having Buchholz, Porcello and Miley all pitch in Tuesday’s college doubleheader, manager John Farrell was offering no clue as to which pitcher would go April 6 against the Phillies. And there’s plenty of time in spring training to make alterations to whatever order he may be considering at this moment.

But without being overly touchy-feely, there was a clue Tuesday to how this rotation is coming together. Porcello and Buchholz, whose work had been completed long before Miley took the mound against Boston College in the second game, were in the dugout to greet Miley when his two scoreless innings of work were over.

“It was cool to come out and see those guys standing there,’’ said Miley, who did the same for Buchholz and Porcello in the first game. “Big-time support. We’ve got to lean on each other throughout the year; why not start right now?’’

Buchholz went comebacker, line out and whiff in a 1-2-3 first inning against Northeastern, throwing 9 of 13 pitches for strikes. Porcello did not allow a ball out of the infield in retiring six straight over the next two innings, recording consecutive strikeouts on called third strikes. Miley, against BC, gave up one hit and was charged with a balk, but registered three ground outs, a line out and two strikeouts.

Of the 15 outs recorded by the three starters, seven came via grounders, five by K’s. If Sox starters are right this season, you should be seeing a lot of that. Sox stats maestro Jon Shestakofsky notes there were 34 pitchers last season who threw 125 innings or more and had a ground-ball rate of 50 percent or better. The Sox acquired three of them in a two-day span last December: Masterson, Miley and Porcello.

“If it’s in the air,’’ Miley said, “I’m not doing my job.’’

Porcello’s first action with the Sox lacked the drama provided by the man for whom he was traded, Yoenis Cespedes, who hit a grand slam Tuesday for the Tigers. But Porcello threw strikes, kept the ball down and said his arm felt good, the kinds of things you want to hear from a pitcher his first time out.

Miley, who works fast on the mound, would have liked to have had more consistent command of his sinker, but figures that will come with time. Buchholz is continuing to work on modifying his leg kick and his landing spot, knowing it will allow him to throw his changeup more often for strikes.

And Farrell, while not wanting to give it more weight than it deserves, was pleased to see the way they’re pulling for each other.

“It’s very important, the support among the five,’’ he said. “They can learn from one another. We’ve had a number of meetings with the five on what they want and what we want to get out of them. There’s been some sort to bond, but it still comes down to how they pitch and the quality of their innings.’’

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