Boston clinched its best-ever start thanks to another dominant performance on Saturday, overwhelming the Orioles in a 10-3 victory to improve to 12-2.

By Bill Koch Providence Journal

BOSTON — No Red Sox team has ever been better through the first 14 games of the season.

 Boston clinched its best-ever start thanks to another dominant performance on Saturday, overwhelming the Orioles in a 10-3 victory to improve to 12-2.

 The first three Red Sox batters scored to set the tone. A significant portion of the chilled crowd headed for shelter early in this one, with Boston’s latest victory secured long before Marcus Walden delivered the game’s final pitch in the ninth.

 “I just heard it for the first time,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said about his team's latest bit of history. “I’ve been saying it for a while — they’ve been playing good baseball.”

 Alex Cobb was hammered in his season debut for the Orioles, issuing a leadoff walk to Mookie Betts and setting an ominous tone for his outing in the first. Andrew Benintendi’s RBI double to left and a Hanley Ramirez laser into the Green Monster seats for a two-run homer made it 3-0, a quick Red Sox lead that only grew with the passage of time.

 “You can always play better,” Benintendi said. “You can always find little things you need to work on. We’re hot right now.”

 J.D. Martinez deposited a solo home run into the Boston bullpen in the third, making it 4-0, and the Red Sox doubled the cushion with four more runs in the fourth. Benintendi’s two-run single to center, an RBI double to left by Ramirez and a second Manny Machado error of the day at short made the rest of this one all but academic.

 “When you’re healthy and you don’t have to think about anything with your body, you relax and everything is smooth,” Ramirez said. “That doesn’t matter if you’re at first base or at (designated hitter). When you’re 100 percent, that’s the difference.”

 Boston’s offense continues to be relentless, enjoying a seventh consecutive game in which it piled up at least six runs and posted at least one four-run inning. Boston pounded out a season-high 15 hits, with Martinez collecting three and Benintendi, Ramirez, Blake Swihart, Brock Holt and Tzu-Wei Lin each chipping in with two.

 “You saw J.D. — that was impressive,” Cora said. “To shoot the ball the other way and hit it off the wall — we’ve got a lot of sluggers in our lineup.”

 Hector Velazquez navigated through the first five innings to get the win, allowing only a two-run homer to Pedro Alvarez in the fifth. It was the first start in 13 days for the right-hander, with 46 pitches spread over two relief appearances the only work he had since beating Tampa Bay, 2-1, on April 1. Joe Kelly worked a 1-2-3 sixth and Walden recorded the last nine outs to pick up his first big league save.

 “Just my mentality — having the mentality to help the team out no matter what,” Velazquez said. “Whether it be coming out of the bullpen or starting, that’s what it’s all about.”

 “It’s been good baseball for a while,” Cora said. “We’re proud of what they’re doing right now.”