PHILADELPHIA — It was almost as if Justin Masterson was begging to be underestimated.

“Can you hit?” he was asked two days ago, the eve of his first Red Sox start since 2009, an interleague series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies.

“How am I now? Not good,” Masterson said. “How was I? I used to be decent. Get your bunts down. That should be good enough for me.”

Or, you know, pick up a couple of hits, including an RBI single up the middle in a six-run third inning that sparked the Sox to a 6-2 victory and sent them off to Yankee Stadium, where they will face a better team that will present a truer test of their overall ability beginning tonight.

But in the words of catcher Ryan Hanigan, “So far, so good” for Masterson and the ace-less “Five Guys” rotation that was billed as the weakest link in the Red Sox’ quest to return to the postseason.

Clay Buchholz tossed seven scoreless innings on Opening Day, and other than one hanging slider Wednesday night, Rick Porcello looked sharp, too. Then there was Masterson, who scattered three singles, battled a spell of wildness in the third inning and completed six to give the Red Sox three consecutive quality starts to begin the season.

Could it be that, as with Masterson’s batsmanship, we’ve underestimated them?

“They’ve gone out and stayed in command of the strike zone for the most part, put the ball on the ground, which we anticipated with the style of guys that we have,” manager John Farrell said. “But the pace in which they work and the command of the strike zone has been a positive through three games.”

OK, before we get carried away, let’s pause and say that Buchholz, Porcello and Masterson were facing the Phillies, who might well score the fewest runs in either league. It has been a precipitous fall from grace for Chase Utley, Ryan Howard & Co., so much so that closer Jonathan Papelbon is practically begging to be traded.

Still, it represented a positive start for the starters, who appear to be out to prove they don’t need any help from on-the-block Phillies lefty Cole Hamels or any other aces that might be traded between now and the end of July.

Masterson took advantage of the feeble Phillies, mowing down the first seven batters, three by strikeout. He ran into trouble in the third inning, giving up two runs on two singles, two walks and a wild pitch, but struck out Howard on three pitches to shut off the possibility of an even bigger rally.

But when Masterson is going well, it’s usually because he’s throwing a nasty slider to augment a sinking fastball that induces ground balls, which was exactly what happened against the Phillies.

“That’s going to be the key to success for me at all times, being able to mix a good amount of sliders for strikes, being able to get ahead in the count and being able to put some guys away,” Masterson said. “And then second that with some great defense, guys making good plays when they needed to, Papi (David Ortiz) doing some great things over there at first base even though he’s not accustomed to it. It worked out well.”

Meanwhile, the Sox knocked 11 hits, three by shortstop Xander Bogaerts, whose bases-clearing bloop triple in an ugly third inning for the Phillies broke open the game.

Even Masterson got in on the act, joining Josh Beckett on May 20, 2006 against the Phillies as the only Sox pitchers in the designated hitter era (since 1973) to record at least two hits and an RBI in a game. He also was the first Sox pitcher to record two hits and allow no more than three since Ray Culp on May 30, 1972.

And here we all assumed Masterson couldn’t hit.

“I can’t. I can’t,” he said. “You get lucky out there — hit one up the middle, pull one down the line. It’s not skill. It’s just luck.”

In that case, the Red Sox will hope Masterson’s luck on the mound continues to be just as good.