BALTIMORE — Rick Porcello doesn’t quite roll his eyes when asked about the idea of winning the Cy Young Award. But it’s clearly a topic he’d prefer to discuss once the season is over, preferably while wiping champagne out of his eyes.
“It’s hard to talk about because it’s not something I can control,’’ Porcello said before the Red Sox beat the Orioles, 5-2, on Tuesday. “Obviously it’s nice to be in that conversation.’’
Porcello is 21-4 with a 3.08 earned run average, third best in the American League. His 0.98 WHIP leads the league, as does his 6.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The righthander is third in the league in innings and is ninth in strikeouts, which is actually impressive considering he’s largely a sinkerball pitcher.
Opponents have a .626 OPS against Porcello, the third lowest in the league.
For voters with a sabermetric bent, Porcello is fifth in the league with a 4.7 WAR. He is also ranked fifth in FIP, a metric that estimates run prevention independent of defense.
Chris Sale (White Sox), Corey Kluber (Indians), and Masahiro Tanaka (Yankees) also have solid cases.
“He’s deserving,’’ said teammate David Price, a Cy Young winner in 2012 while a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. “He’s done everything you could ask for.’’
One factor that could help Porcello is performing as well as he has for a contending team in the American League East.
“Pitching in the American League East presents unique challenges and it’s all ballpark-related in addition to the way teams are built,’’ Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “You start to factor in the full body of work: the number of innings pitched, walks allowed, hit allowed and he’s obviously in the conversation.’’
Farrell acknowledged his is not an objective opinion. But he’s happy to give that opinion when asked.
“He’s our guy. He would be my vote for the Cy Young,’’ Farrell said. “I love the way Rick has handled those questions. It’s about what we do and not what he does. But he’s having a hell of a year.’’
Farrell said Porcello is the most prepared pitcher he has worked with as a pitching coach or manager.
“That’s both from a physical standpoint to a mental standpoint with game-planning,’’ Farrell said. “Combine it with the competitiveness on the mound and his numbers aren’t a fluke. He’s that good.’’
The last Red Sox pitcher to win the Cy Young was Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000.
Pedroia recovering
Dustin Pedroia got the night off because of a sore left knee but is expected to make a quick return. He was injured during the three games on the artificial turf in Toronto from Sept. 9-11.
“Just twisted my knee in Toronto trying to make a play. We’re just getting treatment and trying to get the swelling out,’’ Pedroia said. “It gets to a point where you need to stay off it for a day to get the inflammation out of there.’’
Pedroia has been checked out by team doctors but has not yet required an MRI. The hope is he will play on Wednesday.
“That’s the plan. We did treatment all day,’’ Pedroia said.
Through Monday, Pedroia was hitting .325, second in the American League. He is 2 of his last 15.
Marco Hernandez started at second base and was 1 for 4 with a run scored. Brock Holt is away from the team for a few days because of a death in his family.
Betts makes history
Mookie Betts became the first player in the majors to reach 200 hits this season when he singled in the third inning. He was 3 for 5 batting leadoff and now has 201 hits.
Betts is the first Red Sox player with 200 hits since Adrian Gonzalez (213) and Jacoby Ellsbury (212) in 2011.
“It means I put in a lot of work. It’s a long season and I give myself a little credit for working and grinding through the whole thing,’’ Betts said.
Betts received a text message from former Red Sox player Michael Coleman on Monday saying he was close to the milestone. Coleman operates a baseball school in Tennessee where Betts works out.
Betts is only the seventh player in history to have a season with at least 200 hits and 30 home runs before the age of 24.
The others were Hal Trosky (1934 and ’36), Joe DiMaggio (1937), Vladimir Guerrero (1998), Nomar Garciaparra (1997), Alex Rodriguez (1996 and ’98), and Albert Pujols (2003).
The last Red Sox player with a 200-hit season before the age of 24 was Johnny Pesky in his rookie year of 1942.
Betts is the first player with at least 100 runs, 200 hits and 100 RBIs since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera in 2012. Cabrera was the AL Most Valuable Player that season.
“I’m proud of him. He’s been great, obviously, ever since he’s come up,’’ Pedroia said. “He’s continued to get better in every aspect of his game. He can help us in a ton of ways. He’s pretty special.’’
Start me up
Clay Buchholz, who starts on Wednesday, has a 3.46 ERA in his last 14 appearances, six of them starts. He had a 6.06 ERA in his first 21 appearances . . . Sandy Leon was 0 for 4 and is 2 for his last 24. His batting average had dropped from .356 to .328 . . . The Sox are 6-2 at Camden Yards this season . . . Red Sox relievers have an 0.89 ERA since Sept. 1 . . . Henry Owens will leave the team to pitch in an Instructional League game on Thursday to stay active.
Alex Speier of the Globe Staff contributed.
