Red Sox starters tie record for most HRs through 1st 5 games

Boston Red Sox starting pitchers have been undone by the long ball through the season's first five games.

The defending World Series champs are 1-4 and have seen their starters allow a league-high 11 home runs, tied with the 1955 Milwaukee Braves and 1978 Toronto Blue Jays for most ever over that span, according to ESPN Stats and Info.

David Price allowed three home runs to the Oakland Athletics in Monday night's 7-0 loss, including Khris Davis' MLB-leading fifth homer of the year.

Eduardo Rodriguez and Rick Porcello allowed one home run apiece in their starts while Nathan Eovaldi and Chris Sale matched Price in theirs. The rotation, which was expected to be a source of strength, owns an MLB-worst 11.14 ERA thanks to their collective inability to keep the ball in the yard.

"There’s no panic in this clubhouse, or in the dugout. Just nothing good is happening right now," Price said, according to Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald. "We’d rather it happen right now than the last two weeks of September. So, we’ll get through this time and we’ll be better for it."

It's a much different start compared to how strong the Red Sox were at the beginning of 2018. They didn't lose their fourth game of last season until April 22. In that time, Boston starters had a 3.26 ERA (second only to the Houston Astros) and had allowed 18 home runs in 160 1/3 innings.