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Red Sox Score Early and Often to Take Series vs Seattle Mariners

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston shortstop Pablo Reyes hit a pair of two-run doubles as the Red Sox piled up nine runs over the first two innings en route to a 12-3 win over the visiting Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

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Boston tied its season high with 16 hits, including six in a six-run second inning. Justin Turner went 3-for-4 with his second homer in as many games during the big frame.

Rob Refsnyder, Rafael Devers, Enrique Hernandez and Jarren Duran each added multiple hits to the total. Refsnyder and Turner also scored three runs apiece.

Brayan Bello (3-1) worked around three hits and five walks during his five-inning outing, ultimately earning his third straight win for the Red Sox.

Julio Rodriguez and Jose Caballero each had an RBI for Seattle, which was held to just five hits.

Seattle starter Marco Gonzales (3-1) lasted just 1 2/3 innings, allowing eight runs on eight hits.

 

Red Sox Put One in the “W” Column

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox took the middle game of a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners, 9-4, scoring runs in bunches at Fenway since an 11-run barrage against the Toronto Blue Jays on May the Fourth. Tuesday night, the Sox scored four runs to take a 4-0 lead in the first and then followed with a three-run fifth. Both scoring binges were the result of homers, triples, doubles and base hits – the “club cycle” that’s not a qualifier for free furniture.

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The rubber game of this three game set will be played Wednesday night at 7:10, giving Sox fans one hour and twenty minutes of baseball before they tune-in to see the hometown Celtics play host to the Miami Heat in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Finals.

For Boston, SP Nick Pivetta went 5.1 innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits. He walked four and struck-out six Seattle batters. Pivetta allowed one home run as he threw 98 pitches with 58 strikes before giving way to RP Ryan Sherriff, the newly recalled lefty from Triple A Worcester.
Pivetta squandered the 4-0 lead but saw some run support after he headed to the showers. Ultimately, he was credited with the win and is now (3-3) on the 2023 season.
In the home half of the fifth inning, Alex Verdugo led-off with a 2B to left field and Masatka Yoshida followed with an RBI ground rule double that hopped over the low fence in fight field and Verdugo scored the go-ahead run, making it 5-4 Boston. After being moved over to third by a long fly ball to right by Justin Turner, a Luis Castillo wild pitch allowed Yoshida to score standing up. Sox CF Jarren Duran followed with a solo home run, a 4`7-foot blast to right center field to give Boston a 7-4 lead heading into the sixth inning.
Trailing 4-0, Seattle battled its way back to a tie game, 4-4 in the fourth, when Eugenio Suarez singled to left, C Cal Raleigh walked before RF Teoscar Hernandez tripled to center field. Red Sox centerfielder, Darren Duran, attempted to make a diving catch in short center, but missed and the ball rolled all the way back to the 420 mark in Fenways quirky center field. The triple scored both Suarez and Raleigh to make it, 4-3. Seconds later, Seattle DH Taylor Trammell cracked a two-run homer to right field, tying the game at the end of four innings.
The Red Sox started the game with an offensive outbreak. Boston RF Alex Verdugo beat out a bobbled ground ball to Seattle 2B Kolten Wong to lead-off the first inning. Masatake Yoshida crushed a bullet to center field which bounced off the outfield wall and rolled back towards the infield, allowing the Sox left fielder to show off his speed and dive into 3B as the throw trickled in from an errant cut-off. DH Justin Turner, batting in the third position then knocked in Yoshida with a towering 389-foot home run over Fenway’s Green Monster left field wall. With the Red Sox taking the three-run lead, 1B Triston Casas hit a 373-foot drive to clear the short right field and spot the Sox a 4-0 lead at the end of one.
Seattle’s Luis Castillo took the loss after pitching 5.0 innings and allowing seven runs (five earned) on six hits and two walks. Castillo is now 2-2 on the season.
GAME NOTES:  The Red Sox have now won 9 of their last 11 games against Seattle. … After going 16-6 in a 22 game stretch (4/14 to 5/6), the Red Sox are now 2-6 over their last eight games. … Boston leads the Majors in two-base hits, now tallying 96. Verdugo and Yoshida carding doubles tonight. … Fenway Park fans were treated to one of the better renditions of the USA national anthem when nearby Suffolk University and its Performing Arts division brought it home in the pregame ceremonies…. It’s been a little over a month since Red Sox OF Adam Duvall broke his wrist (left distal radius fracture on 4/10). Duvall did not undergo surgery but will require at least six weeks of rehabilitation once the bone is set and healed. In the meantime, Duvall is running and throwing to stay in shape. It will take time before he can swing a bat and he was off to a very strong start, batting .454 with 15 hits, 14 RBI in his first eight games of the season, before suffering the broken wrist.

Red Sox on Four-Game Losing Streak

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report from Field Level Media) – The Seattle Mariners will look to keep the hits coming for a second straight night when they continue a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park tonight.

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Seattle has won 10 of its last 14 games after dominating Monday’s series opener, racking up 15 hits in a 10-1 victory.

“We are riding the coattails of our pitching,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said before George Kirby logged a quality start to begin the series. “And we should.”

After Kirby tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, Seattle leads the major leagues with a 3.24 ERA. The Mariners have prevented opponents from scoring more than one run in nine games this season.

The difference on Monday, however, was the Mariners’ season-high hit total. Cal Raleigh went 3-for-5 with four RBIs while becoming the first catcher to ever homer from both sides of the plate in a game at Fenway.

“I can’t believe (Jason) Varitek never did it,” Raleigh, who has strong family ties to Vermont, told Root Sports in a postgame interview. “That’s pretty cool.”

Eugenio Suarez also went deep for Seattle.

On Tuesday, the Mariners will give the ball to Luis Castillo (2-1, 2.70 ERA).

Castillo, who did not allow a run in three of his first four starts this year, is looking to bounce back after taking his first loss on Wednesday against Texas. He fanned nine Rangers but allowed three runs on eight hits through five innings during a 4-3 setback.

Castillo’s only career start against Boston was a great one, as he surrendered just one hit and struck out 10 in six shutout innings during a 2-1 victory on May 31, 2022.

The Red Sox are riding a four-game losing streak and have dropped six of their past seven since an eight-game winning streak.

Boston has been outscored 19-2 in the past two games, including a 9-1 setback against St. Louis. The Red Sox also lost leads in the first two games of the three-game set against the visiting Cardinals.

A positive sign could be Rafael Devers regaining his footing at the plate. The star third baseman is on a five-game hitting streak and logged Boston’s lone RBI on Monday with a double.

Boston right-hander Nick Pivetta (2-3, 6.23 ERA), who is scheduled to start on Tuesday, has failed to complete five innings in only two of his first seven starts. However, one of those outings came in his latest appearance, on May 9 at Atlanta, where he allowed seven runs on eight hits in four innings.

Despite the recent struggles, Pivetta fully expects to remain as a regular in the rotation, which could experience some alterations in the coming week.

“I’ve started for this team my whole entire career,” Pivetta said. “I’m going to continue to do that. By the end of the year, I’m going to continue to do that, then next year and the year on out.”

Boston manager Alex Cora isn’t ready just yet to discuss changes to the starting staff.

“You have 26 (roster slots) and have to make tough decisions at the end of the day,” Cora said. “But as far as conversations, we don’t have to do that right now.”

Pivetta has made only one career start against Seattle, when he held the Mariners to two runs on one hit over six innings in a no-decision on April 22, 2021.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox End Home-stand with a “W”

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox concluded their season-long 10-game home stand with a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners Sunday at Fenway Park. Boston finished a season-long 10 game stretch at Fenway with a disappointing 5-5 record but are 14-6 in their last 20 games and 3-0-3 in their last six series.

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Trailing 1-0 after the first half of the 1st inning, utility man Marwin Gonzalez and right fielder Hunter Renfroe each worked bases-loaded walks in the Sox’ half of the 1st inning and 2B Christian Arroyo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. It marked the time the Red Sox have scored four (or more) runs on two hits or fewer in the 1st inning since August 11, 2018 vs. TB (4 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 1 E).

Boston starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R) struck-out a season-high eight over his season-high 7.0 innings. Rodriguez retired his final nine batters faced on 29 pitches after allowing 3 straight hits and two runs to begin the 5th inning. It was Rodriguez third career start with no walks over 7.0+ innings pitched.

Boston begins a six-game road trip in New York on Tuesday when they face the Mets in a pair of night games before heading to Arlington, Texas to take-on the Texas Rangers in a four-game set. The Sox return to Fenway Park on May 4th to start a three-game series against Detroit.

Bogaerts, Martinez Lead Sox to 6-5 Win

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BOSTON – Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-4, with a run scored, a home run and  3 RBI to match his season high in RBI with his  2-run homer in the 1st to lead the Red Sox to a 6-5 win over the Seattle Mariners. Bogaerts has homered in three of the last four games and the Sox are 4-4 in their current eight-game home stand.

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J.D. Martinez followed for Boston and hit a solo home run down the right field line in the 3rd inning. to extend the Sox’ lead to 3-1. It was Martinez’ seventh homer of the season, matching his (60-game) 2020 season total.

Boston reliever Hirokazu Sawamura earned his first MLB win after entering in the 4th inning, leading 3-2 with two outs and runners on 1st and 2nd. Sawamura struck out Seattle OF Mitch Haniger to strand both runners. Overall, Sawamura has stranded each of his four inherited runners this season and seven of his nine appearances have been scoreless (1.80 ERA, 2 ER/10.0 IP).

Garrett Whitlock spelled Sawamura and extended a streak of 25 consecutive batters retired before allowing a two-out single to Sam Haggerty in the 6th inning. The string of scoreless innings marks the longest streak by a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale retired 25 consecutive batters in June 2019. Whitlock was credited with a hold.

The Mariners allowed six runs after holding opponents to five runs or fewer in each of their previous eight games, including 3 runs or fewer in 7 of those 8 games. Tonight’s 6-5 loss was their 10th one-run game of the season, the most in the majors.

The teams meet again at 1:10pm on Saturday at Fenway Park.

 

Seattle Defeats Boston in 10th Inning

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BOSTON – Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and the Seattle Mariners rallied to defeat the Boston Red Sox in the first game of a four-game series at Fenway Park.

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The Mariners managed only three hits, including doubles by Ty France and Sam Haggerty, but capitalized despite only one hit through the first nine innings. Mariners right-hander Rafael Montero (2-0) earned the victory after retiring the side in order in the ninth.

Red Sox right-hand pitcher Nick Pivetta didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning, when France tied the game with a two-run double with two outs. Pivetta went six innings, allowing the two runs on one hit with three walks and four strikeouts. Boston’s Rafael Devers had two hits and a homer.