It speaks to their depth and resilience that the Red Sox can still look like a complete team without so many key players.

Hours after the club placed Brayan Bello on the 15-day injured list with right lat tightness, they put together an impressive 8-0 victory.

Against the Cleveland Guardians, who came into the contest with a Major League-best 17-6 record, no less.

After being outscored 24-15 by Cleveland in their first five meetings of the season, the Boston bats collected a season-high 16 hits, including four-hit performances by Wilyer Abreu and Connor Wong – who homered twice – and three knocks for Rafael Devers.

Amidst the avalanche of injuries, it was reassuring to not only have Devers back in the lineup, but see the slugger make a bid for the cycle. As the designated hitter, Devers singled in his first at-bat and scored, drew a walk in the third, homered in the fifth, and drove in a run with a ground-rule double in the sixth.

“He bangs,” Wong told NESN’s Jahmai Webster “It’s great when we have him in (the lineup), and hopefully we can have him stay healthy the rest of the year.”

Abreu got the scoring started, driving in Devers for an immediate 1-0 lead. The outfielder has recorded a go-ahead RBI in six consecutive games, the longest streak by a Red Sox hitter in the Expansion Era (since 1961).

“Connor had an excellent game. Abreu, in the first-at bat, set up the tempo for the rest of the night,” Alex Cora told reporters.

With another double in the top of the ninth, Abreu became the first Red Sox player with at least four hits and two or more for extra-bases since his own performance last Aug. 24, two days after his MLB debut.

After going hitless against Guardians starter Carlos “Cookie” Carrasco at Fenway Park last week, Wong took “Cookie” deep twice for his second career multi-homer game.

“(I) swung at better pitches,” Wong explained. “Grabbed pitches I could handle.”

Even though the lineup couldn’t make it through an inning without stranding a baserunner – they were 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base – it didn’t matter. They were going against a Cleveland lineup that only managed four hits the entire night.

Because as has been the case so far this season, the pitching staff continued to defy and dominate. The Red Sox starting rotation entered Wednesday’s contest leading the Majors with a 1.80 ERA. It’s their best mark through 24 games in the Live Ball Era, and according to the club’s media relations, it’s also the lowest for an American League team through that span since the 1978 Oakland A’s, and third-best by any MLB team since 2000.

Cooper Criswell only improved upon the already-sterling ERA with a five-inning start in which he held Cleveland to three hits, struck out three, and didn’t issue a walk.

The pitching staff as a whole was already leading the Majors with a 2.60 ERA, and Joely Rodriguez and Zack Kelly further improved upon that with two shutout innings apiece. Called up from Triple-A to replace Bello on the roster, Kelly struck out three and didn’t allow a single Guardian to reach base in his season debut.

“Coop was amazing,” Cora said. “Joely was great, Zack threw excellent. That’s probably the best I’ve seen him in the years I’ve been here.”

Improved defense continues to be the cherry on top, putting together another error-free game. Since Trevor Story’s season came to an abrupt end, Ceddanne Rafaela has saved the middle infield. His impressive barehanded throw to first was originally ruled a single, but the Red Sox challenged successfully.

“The kid at shortstop has done an amazing job slowing everything down,” Cora lauded. “Pablo (Reyes) had a good game at first, Bobby (Dalbec) at first… everybody talks about the struggles in the offense, but defensively he’s really good.”