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Red Sox 9, Angels 0

Red Sox win again, and their manager thinks they’ll only get better

Mitch Moreland, Hanley Ramirez, and J.D. Martinez (right) congratulate Rafael Devers after his grand slam during the third inning of Wednesday night’s win against the Angels.Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Red Sox manager Alex Cora mentioned several times during spring training that he was against the idea of personal catchers, preferring instead to build a lineup based on the optimal matchups against the opposing pitcher. He proved it on Opening Day when Christian Vazquez caught Chris Sale instead of Sandy Leon.

Leon caught Rick Porcello’s first start. Then his second, third, and on Wednesday night, his fourth.

“We’re not making sure he catches him,” Cora insisted before the Sox played the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. “But there’s something going on here.”

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At this point, why fight it? Porcello pitched well again as the rampaging Red Sox rolled to a 9-0 victory before a crowd of 34,508 at Angel Stadium.

The 15-2 Red Sox have won six straight and 15 of 16. They also have scored 84 runs in the last 10 games.

Want more? The Sox have won all six series they have played, and their starting pitchers have a 1.91 earned run average. They lead the majors in runs and are the first team since the 2003 San Francisco Giants to start 15-2.

Cora is the first rookie manager to start 15-2. He sees that as an achievement of the players.

“It’s a credit to them,” Cora said. “I just put the lineup in. The coaches are helping out, putting them in a spot to be successful. They’re using the information to their advantage.

“At the end, they’re the ones hitting fastballs out of the ballpark and playing good defense and throwing the ball over the plate. All the credit goes to them.”

At this point, it will take more than a strong April to impress Cora.

He put together a winter ball team that won the Caribbean Series in 2017 then was the general manager of Puerto Rico’s entry in the World Baseball Classic that finished second to the United States a month later.

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As bench coach of the Houston Astros, Cora was part of a 101-win team that won the World Series. Then the Red Sox hired him.

“I’m in a good place,” Cora said. “I know how good they are. But it’s just something about them that make you feel confident. You show up every day to work and you enjoy it. I’m having a blast with them, not only in the dugout, but in the clubhouse. It’s fun to be around them.

“We’re growing together; we’re learning together. We’re going to keep getting better.”

Porcello (4-0) allowed six hits — all singles — over six scoreless innings and struck out six without a walk to drop his ERA to 1.40.

Porcello has yet to allow a home run after giving up a major-league leading 38 last season. He also has one walk over 25⅔ innings.

The first inning defined this start. The Angels loaded the based with one out before Porcello struck out Kole Calhoun and Zack Cozart swinging at elevated four-seam fastballs. The Angels advanced only one other runner beyond first base.

Rick Porcello threw six shutout innings to improve to 4-0 this season, while lowering his ERA to 1.40.Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

“Rick had a lot of confidence [in] his fastball,” Leon said. “Those two outs were huge.”

Said Porcello: “That could have been a momentum shift right there. To be able to get out of there unscathed, it was big. You can’t win the game in the first, but you can certainly hurt yourself and maybe lose it.”

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Angels starter Tyler Skaggs (2-1) allowed six runs on eights hits over 4⅓ innings.

Hanley Ramirez, hitting second for the first time since 2015, doubled in the first inning and scored on a two-out single by Mitch Moreland, who was hitting cleanup.

Mookie Betts led off the third inning with a single. When Ramirez grounded to third, the Angels should have had an out at second, but Betts was running hard, and the throw from Cozart was late.

Singles by J.D. Martinez and Moreland made it 2-0.

With one out, Skaggs stayed with his curveball one pitch more than he should have, and Rafael Devers drove it just over the fence in right field for a grand slam, the first of his career.

Devers, 21, is the youngest Sox player to hit a grand slam since 20-year-old Tony Conigliaro in 1965.

“Everybody else is producing. I want to do that, too,” Devers said via translator Daveson Perez.

The Sox have four slams in 17 games after going 132 at-bats without one last season.

Martinez (4 for 5) homered off Blake Wood in the seventh inning. He has four on the season. Moreland added a two-run shot in the ninth against Keynan Middleton.

The Sox have scored 84 runs in their last 83 innings going back to April 7.

The series finale is Thursday with Eduardo Rodriguez facing Nick Tropeano. The Sox outscored the American League West-leading Angels 19-1 in the first two games and hit nine home runs.

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Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.