Shortly after Aaron Wilkerson landed in Boston at the conclusion of Spring Training, he was approached by his pitching coach, Kevin Walker, who told him he would start on Opening Day for Double-A Portland. It was exactly what the 26-year-old wanted to hear.

"I was kind of pleased and relieved," Wilkerson said. "I felt like I deserved it, all the hard work I'd put in, kind of seeing that come to fruition."

The Red Sox prospect recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts and gave up two hits and a walk over 5 2/3 scoreless innings Thursday in the Sea Dogs' season-opening 3-1 victory over Reading at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The right-hander -- no stranger to Opening Day starts from his time with Grand Prairie of the independent Frontier League -- mixed speeds and pitches effortlessly as he retired 15 of the first 17 Fightin Phils, nine on strikeouts. He credited his command but gave an assist to the weather in Reading.

"It was a little cool out tonight," Wilkerson said with a laugh. "So I don't imagine many hitters wanted to be hitting."

Wilkerson hit his only snag in the sixth inning when Jesmuel Valentin lifted a single to center and top Phillies prospect J.P. Crawford reached on a chopper to the mound. The Texas native was able to set down Phillies No. 20 prospect Rhys Hoskins with his 11th strikeout before reaching his pitch limit. Williams Jerez took over and struck out Dylan Cozens to preserve the shutout.

"I believe I could've [gotten the last out], but early on in the season you kind of have to play the game according to pitch counts and matchups and stuff and try to save people and get some other people in and see how they react to certain situations," Wilkerson said. "Jerez came in and did a very good job getting my last out for me."

Wilkerson produced the highest strikeout total for a Sea Dogs pitcher since sixth-ranked Boston prospect Brian Johnson fanned 12 on July 25, 2014 against New Britain.

"It's an honor," he said. "Going into today and accomplishing 11 strikeouts -- and it didn't feel like 11, by no means -- it was one of those where I just kind of went out, did my job and it paid off for me."

Wilkerson signed with the Red Sox in August 2014. He started seven games for Portland down the stretch last year and steadily improved on the way to a 4-1 record, 2.66 ERA and .192 opponents' batting average. In his second stint with the Sea Dogs, the 6-foot-3 hurler believes he and his teammates are just getting started.

"This sets the tone," he said. "I believe we have a really good team coming up. Everybody gets along and we all jell well together. [This is] kind of the tone-setter for the rest of the season. We're going to come out guns blazing and I think if we keep playing like we did tonight, there's really no stopping us."

Third baseman Jantzen White provided support for Wilkerson with a sacrifice fly in the fifth off Phillies No. 27 prospect Alec Asher (0-1) and a solo homer off Tom Windle in the seventh.

Sixth-ranked Phillies prospect Jorge Alfaro collected a single in four at-bats in his first appearance with the organization since he was acquired from Texas in the Cole Hamels trade last season.