ATLANTA -- Having thrown 100 pitches in five strong innings Wednesday night against the Braves, Rick Porcello extended his wide lead over other Sox starters in a couple of categories.

Porcello's 173.2 innings and 2,789 pitches this season lead the team by a good margin in a year in which David Price, Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez have all spent time on the disabled list. Porcello's innings count is among the top 10 in baseball, one year after he finished seventh in the majors (with Sale finishing first).

So with the Red Sox holding a nine-game lead over the Yankees (pending New York's result in Oakland late Tuesday), manager Alex Cora has decided to acknowledge the inevitable and start setting things up for October.

"(Porcello) will pitch Sunday and then we'll make an adjustment with him as far as usage," Cora said. "We've been using him a lot. We've been talking about resting guys and resting pitchers and I think he deserves it."

Nathan Eovaldi, who threw 118 pitches in three days due to a long rain delay in Chicago on Friday, will be the first healthy Sox pitcher to get extra rest. He'll next pitch Tuesday against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park, on eight days rest.

Then it'll be Porcello's turn, with Boston turning a clear eye toward setting up its rotation for the Division Series. Even Porcello, who is regarded as the ultimate competitor among Sox players and coaches, knows it's the right move.

"I think my stubborn starting pitcher side of me says I don't want extra days in September, but I think it's smart and I'll do whatever Alex and the coaching staff want me to do," he said.

Porcello has logged more than 200 innings in each of the last two seasons and has struggled in two postseason starts. With no incentives tied to innings pitched, it makes all the sense in the world for Boston to pull back the reins and let Porcello rest, giving someone like William Cuevas the chance to eat Sept. innings instead of trying to reach a meaningless plateau.

Porcello (16-7, 4.20 ERA) has been solid all season save four a couple of disastrous outings against the Blue Jays and a rough last five starts. But he's still a critical piece come October, even with Chris Sale, David Price and Eduardo Rodriguez being the club's top three starters if healthy.

Having thrown an average of 184.5 innings in his 10 major-league seasons, Porcello is a proven workhorse who is rarely sidelined. But even he conceded that five-plus months into a long season, there's no need to push his limits unnecessarily.

"Everybody is feeling a little something," Porcello said. "Whenever you can get a couple days of extra rest it's important to use those and kind of get your feet back under you a little bit."