Christian Arroyo wasn’t supposed to be in the Red Sox lineup on Tuesday night.

But Pablo Reyes was a late scratch due to a right abdominal strain, so less than an hour before first pitch, Arroyo found himself penciled in.

On what should’ve been a night off, Arroyo took the opportunity to have a career game. Over the first seven innings, he went 4-for-4, his first-ever 4-hit performance.

And in the ninth, he made it his first 5-hit game, a perfect 5-for-5 night. It was the first time Red Sox hitter collected at least five hits in a regular-season game since Rafael Devers’ 6-hit bonanza on August 13, 2019. (Kiké Hernández had a 5-hit game during the 2021 ALDS.)

“Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready,” Arroyo told NESN’s Jahmai Webster following the 10-4 victory.

The infielder drove in four runs with a solo homer in the fourth and a bases-clearing double in the seventh. All in all, the Boston bats plated 10 runs on 15 hits, including multi-hit nights for Justin Turner (2-for-3), Masataka Yoshida (3-for-5), and Connor Wong (2-for-4). Yoshida and Adam Duvall also contributed home runs. The lineup could’ve done even more damage; they were 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base.

This was the Mary Poppins of ballgames, practically perfect in every way.

For most of the night’s nine innings, the Red Sox were reassuring in nearly every aspect of play. Last season, they didn’t have adequate depth to withstand their many injuries, and it destroyed their season. Already this year, they’ve weathered their fair share of trips to the injured list, and they’re not just treading water, they’re swimming.

Perhaps they looked a bit chaotic early on, fielding a roster with seven or eight starting pitching options, but it’s been their saving grace this spring. Having pitchers who can work as starters or long relievers is the reason why they’re withstanding losing Chris Sale (until at least early August) and Tanner Houck (no timetable).

This game began fresh off the news that Houck will undergo surgery next week. After getting hit in the right cheek with a line drive last week, the young right-hander will have a plate inserted into his face. He was originally slated to begin the season in the bullpen, but when several starters weren’t ready for the Opening Day roster, he rejoined the rotation. He turned out to be one of their most reliable arms, making his absence all the more devastating.

Kutter Crawford was in the inverse position; after starting the season in the rotation and struggling in his first two starts, he moved to the bullpen. Between April 13-May 31, he made eight dominant relief appearances, posting a 1.66 ERA across 21 2/3 innings before moving back to the rotation at the beginning of June.

His fourth start of the month was his best of the year. For the second time this season, Crawford pitched five innings in a start, but this time, he pitched a shutout. Over five scoreless frames, he held the Twins to six hits, struck out five, and didn’t issue a walk.

Brennan Bernardino followed with a no-hit sixth inning, but things got dicey after that.

Corey Kluber was the one period in this night of exclamation points, though he started off well enough. Taking over for the seventh, he issued a leadoff walk before getting a double play and pop-out to end the inning. However, he blew the shutout in the following frame, giving up a home run to Byron Buxton, who’d entered the game 0-for-24.

With the Red Sox still up by a comfortable margin of eight runs, Alex Cora stuck with Kluber for the ninth. He promptly gave up back-to-back solo home runs and a single, making things slightly less comfortable before getting the next three hitters out to end the game.

The Red Sox already moved Kluber from the rotation to the bullpen at the beginning of the month, with little improvement. Over six relief appearances, he’s allowed 14 earned runs on 23 hits (including six home runs), issued three walks, and struck out eight.

At this point, the veteran pitcher’s two-time Cy Young days are far away in the rearview mirror. In Tuesday night’s game, his ERA ballooned to 7.04; other than his brief three-game debut in 2011, it’s the worst mark of any season of his career by far.

And yet by pitching three innings on Tuesday night, he qualified for a save.

The Red Sox are 39-35 and own the American League’s longest win streak.