The Red Sox’ Dustin Pedroia slides safely into second base in the fifth inning, beating the tag by White Sox second baseman Alexei Ramirez.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — Two-thirds of the starting outfield wasn’t here a month ago. The first baseman was a minor-league journeyman. The cleanup hitter was a 160-pound middle infielder and the starting pitcher was making his major-league debut.

And none of it mattered.

Limited by injuries and illness, the Red Sox were undeterred last night, pounding out 15 hits in an 8-2 rout of the Chicago White Sox.

The Sox got five RBI combined from newbies Jason Bay and Mark Kotsay, another two RBI from Jed Lowrie and four hits for newly installed No. 4 hitter Dustin Pedroia to back 21-year-old Michael Bowden in his first major-league start.

Already minus regulars J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell, the Sox were also without Coco Crisp and Kevin Youkilis, battling illness. But to their credit, the Sox wouldn’t use lack of manpower as an excuse.

“It doesn’t matter what guys are out there,” said Pedroia, who enjoyed his second straight four-hit, one-walk night and has now reached base in all 10 plate appearances on the home stand. “Just because we’ve had a couple of guys go down, it doesn’t mean our season’s over.”

To the contrary, the Sox are on their best roll of the season with four weeks remaining on the schedule. They’ve won 5 of their last 6, and 8 of their last 11. In two games against the division-leading White Sox, they’ve outscored Chicago by 16 to 4.

“We just have to go out and keep playing hard,” said Pedroia, who became the first Red Sox player to collect consecutive four-hit games since Wade Boggs in 1989.

Bowden, who acknowledged that his heart was racing as he took the mound, lasted five innings and allowed just two runs on seven hits. He walked one and struck out three, and was backed by five runs in the first two innings.

“I don’t care what your age is — getting runs is good,” said manager Terry Francona. “But he did a good job after we got him the runs. He made some pitches in key spots. I thought his poise and mound presence was outstanding. I thought he really composed himself really well and competed.”

A run-scoring double from Mark Kotsay and a two-RBI double from Jason Bay staked Bowden to a 3-0 lead in the first, and after the White Sox nicked the rookie for a run in the top of the second, the Sox kept piling on against Chicago starter Mark Buehrle with a leadoff homer by Jeff Bailey — just the second of his career — a triple by Jacoby Ellsbury (three hits) and a sacrifice fly from Jed Lowrie pushed the lead to 5-1.

In the fifth, the Sox opened the game some more, with Kotsay doubling home two more runs and showing that he has acclimated quickly to his new surroundings.

“Playing here as a visitor,” said Kotsay, “you know there’s a lot of electricity and energy in the ballpark. Now I’m getting to enjoy it as a home player; it’s fun. Obviously, coming to a new team, you want to be able to contribute offensively and defensively and try to help the team win every night.”

In the meantime, Bowden shook off some early nerves and settled in. In the fourth, he slipped a called two-out third strike past Nick Swisher with runners at second and third, and in the fifth he got the two toughest hitters in the White Sox lineup — Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye — to fly out to left.

In all, he stranded six base runners in scoring position.

“I got myself into a little bit of trouble,” said Bowden, who became the youngest pitcher to win his major-league debut since Juan Pena in 1999, “and I minimized the damage. It could have been a lot worse than what it was, but I made some pitches at the right time, and luckily, it worked out for the best.”

Bowden is the fourth rookie to start a game for the Red Sox this season, one more player in a seemingly endless pipeline that if the team’s player-development system.

“When you come in after the game,” said Francona, “we had a nice clean win and you see guys like [scouting director] Jason McLeod sitting in the clubhouse, it’s hard not to be a little proud. It’s a good day for the organization. We’re playing a lot of young guys at times and our veterans more than pull their weight and also help these guys not feel like they’re walking on eggshells, so they can just go out and compete.”Red Sox

8

White Sox

2

Next Game

Today

vs. White Sox

1:35 p.m.

smcadam@projo.com