PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- The Red Sox took the field Sunday for their 16th game of the Grapefruit League schedule, but for Rick Porcello, it felt like Opening Day.

Porcello made his spring debut at Charlotte Sports Park, allowing two runs over three innings in a lopsided 8-1 Red Sox loss to the Rays. The right-hander gave up four hits – including two home runs – and struck out one, but he walked off the mound feeling good about his 51-pitch day.

“Definitely excited to finally see some live hitters and test myself out there,” Porcello said. “This was my first one of the year, so there’s always a little bit [of adrenaline] going on your first time out.”

The 30-year-old is coming off a 2018 season in which he went 17-7 with a 4.28 ERA, contributing in the postseason with a 3.52 ERA in five outings (three starts). Having worked most of their starters in slowly last spring, the Red Sox are repeating the plan this year, as Eduardo Rodriguez had been the lone member of the rotation to pitch in an actual game prior to Porcello’s Sunday start.

“These guys, they’ve done it before,” manager Alex Cora said. “They actually like what we do with them. That’s why they were able to do the things they did in October, because we took care of them during the spring and early in the season.”

The Red Sox followed their 108-win campaign with a memorable run to the World Series, posting a 3.29 ERA as a team after pitching to a 3.75 mark throughout the 2018 regular season.

Was the slow spring approach with their starters the key to October’s success?

“It’s hard to figure out exactly what it was,” Porcello said. “We had a little bit of a break from the regular season to the postseason, so those days definitely helped, too. I think the combination of the two, at least for me, I felt really good going into the postseason. Let’s say it didn’t hurt.”

Porcello got word before camp opened that he, Chris Sale, David Price and Nathan Eovaldi would all ease their way into the spring once again, sitting out the first two weeks of games.

“We knew in plenty of time what was going to be going on in Spring Training,” Porcello said. “After we find that out, it’s up to us to do our jobs and make sure that we’re ready to go.”

They’ve all gotten their work in with bullpens, live batting practice sessions and simulated games, but Porcello was eager to see hitters wearing another team’s uniform on Sunday.

“The same things I try to work on every spring: get comfortable with my delivery, feel the things I want to feel with that, get to executing pitches – that was my goal today,” Porcello said. “I felt like I did a pretty good job of that. They hit the two home runs and a couple other balls that were hit hard, but the location on those pitches were halfway decent. I’ll look at that and go from there, but overall, it was good.”

Cora was unsure what to expect from Porcello when he took the mound, but he knew he would see an intensity he doesn’t see on the back fields at Fenway South.

“As soon as he gets on that mound today, it’s game on,” Cora said. “It tells you that we’re getting close to the real thing. For them to compete, they bring something to the equation different than others. Our team starts with the starting rotation, so as soon as you see these guys on the mound, people take notice. It’s like, ‘OK, it’s almost go-time.”

Porcello hopes to get on a five-day rotation going forward, which would give him three more spring starts before the season gets underway on March 28.

“Traditionally, we would have some starts in by now, but we all have an understanding of what this is about and the progression that we’re going through in spring,” Porcello said. “Although it’s different and you have to understand that it’s different and maybe go about things a little bit differently, it’s all for our benefit. Hopefully it will pay dividends later on in the season.”