BOSTON -- In winning at Fenway Park for the first time in his career on Tuesday night, Thomas Pomeranz accomplished a more important first for the Red Sox.
The 8-1 victory over the Orioles was the first time Pomeranz truly had electric stuff since the trade last July 14 that brought him to Boston from San Diego.
"I felt pretty good today," Pomeranz said. "I don't know comparatively, but that's the best I've felt in a long time -- put it that way."
As has been well-chronicled by now, Pomeranz was dealing with left forearm fatigue by the time he was traded. To his credit, he never missed a start down the stretch last season and never made excuses for the results (3-5, 4.59 ERA) after the trade.
In going six-plus strong innings (four hits, one run, one walk, six strikeouts) on Tuesday, Pomeranz made the Red Sox look smart for the conservative way they handled him all of Spring Training.
The lefty needed the extra time to rebuild the arm strength he lost last season, and that was the reason he opened the season on the 10-day disabled list.
Pomeranz came out firing in this one, finishing the top of the first by blowing a 95-mph heater by Mark Trumbo.
"I was feeling really good today," Pomeranz said. "Figured out some things mechanically, timing wise, things I've been searching for all of spring and it finally all came together."
This was the type of performance Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski envisioned when he dealt top pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza to the Padres to land Pomeranz, who made the National League All-Star team on the strength of his strong first half last season.
"Very powerful," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "Tonight was maybe a little bit more power than anticipated. The action to his curveball was sharp and tight. He did a great job in the second inning when they get second and third with just one out. But just the overall power was very encouraging to see tonight from Drew."
This was a much better Pomeranz than the one who was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in six starts at Fenway last year.
"Obviously it's awesome," Pomeranz said of winning at Fenway. "Like I said, I felt like I waited forever to go out there and have a good start. We played great as a team, [Christian Vazquez] did an incredible job behind the plate and at the plate. Just a good win all around."
If Pomeranz can keep pitching with the type of stuff he had Tuesday, he should hold his own in the offensive-minded American League East.
"He had some different quadrants," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "High fastball, a little cutter, spun the ball when he needed to, changed planes. Things that have made him successful and why they wanted him."