Monday night’s Red Sox-Rangers game may not have counted toward the regular-season record, but Garrett Whitlock looked ready for the real deal, pitching six innings without allowing an earned run en route to Boston’s 9-2 victory.

While the Sox lineup faced six pitchers before the fifth inning was through, Whitlock dominated the Rangers’ projected starting nine. The 27-year-old righty was meticulous, at 52 pitches after five frames, and finishing the night with 67 pitches (51 for strikes) over six. He got the defending champions 1-2-3 in the first, third, and fifth, and held the Rangers to three hits, an unearned run, one walk, and struck out six times.

There was some troubling déjà vu in the bottom of the second, when Rafael Devers was unable to hold onto Wyatt Langford’s first-pitch dribbler for the third out. The error opened the door for Jonah Heim and Jared Walsh to knock back-to-back singles, the latter driving in Langford for a 1-0 lead. Devers’ defense has looked stronger throughout the preseason, but it was a harsh reminder of how much infield defense cost the Sox last season nonetheless.

What was promising, however, was the way Devers recovered after the error. Early in camp, the third baseman spoke about working on the mental aspect of his game so as to not let one miscue snowball into others. The improvement was on display in the bottom of the third, when he made an impressive low catch, spun and made a perfect throw to first.

If not for Devers’ error, it might’ve been a shutout start for Whitlock. Either way, it was an unearned run and promise of great things to come.

“(Whitlock’s) done a great job of using his arsenal, making adaptations as needed,” pitching coach Andrew Bailey told NESN’s Jahmai Webster. “He’s got a lot of talent… he’s revamped his arsenal.”

Ever his own toughest critic, Whitlock said he was “pretty happy,” but not satisfied with his performance. When Webster praised his changeup, the righty admitted that though the pitch had worked, he felt there was still room for improvement, despite getting 12 swings and four whiffs on 17 of them.

“The funny thing is, (the) changeup is what I was most mad about,” he told Webster on the NESN broadcast. “I didn’t think it was very good today, but everything else was working good, so I’m gonna work on the changeup going into the next outing for sure.”

After falling behind 1-0 in the bottom of the second, the Red Sox scored at least once in each of the following three frames. They took a break from plating runs in the sixth, then got back to work adding on in each of the remaining three innings to finish the night with nine runs on nine hits.

Enmanuel Valdez had a standout performance, going 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs scored, and one driven in, and Reese McGuire continued his recent hot streak, going 1-for-3 with a double, run, RBI, and walk. Though hitless in four at-bats, leadoff man Jarren Duran showed off his speed when he reached on an error and scored.

The Sox entered the day leading the American League in walks (134) and fifth in home runs (37), and added six free passes – including three in the fifth – and a trio of no-doubters by Tyler O’Neil (104.8 mph, 408 ft), Trevor Story (102.8 mph, 394 ft), and Valdez (109.1 mph, 424 ft). No ball was hit as hard as Devers’ 115.9 mph single in the third, though.

By the top of the ninth, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy had run through 12 pitchers, and his lineup had only managed two runs on five hits, two walks, and struck out eight times.

A deep start, a productive offense, and a win against the defending champs. The Sox were, as Mary Poppins would say, “practically perfect in every way.”

Now to see if they can keep doing it when the games count.