Rick Porcello gives Red Sox the stellar start they desperately needed

10:25 PM ET

ATLANTA — Never mind the hard-to-fathom facts about the opponent, namely that the Atlanta Braves haven’t hit a home run since April 10 or that, according to ESPN Stats & Information, 50 players entered Monday night with more homers than Atlanta has hit as a team (three).

Regardless of all that, Rick Porcello gave the Boston Red Sox exactly what they craved upon arriving at Turner Field.

Not only did Porcello hold the weakling Braves scoreless in the opener of a two-game interleague series, a 1-0 victory that pushed the Red Sox above .500 for the first time since April 17, but he went deep into the game, recording one out in the seventh inning before yielding to a bullpen that has been badly overused through the season’s first month.

Indeed, Porcello’s line — 6 1/3 innings, four …

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