Mariners top Red Sox early, hold on for 9‑6 win
BOSTON (Interstat) — Bryan Woo pitched six innings of one-run ball and Randy Arozarena drove in three runs with a home run as the Seattle Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 on Tuesday at Fenway Park.
Woo recovered from a rough outing six days earlier, when he allowed six runs against Philadelphia, and held Boston in check after the Red Sox pulled even in the first inning. The right-hander struck out seven, scattered five hits and walked one while winning for the 10th time this season. He departed after six innings with Seattle leading 9-2.
Seattle jumped ahead in the top of the first when Dominic Canzone launched a two-out home run to right-center field, his 21st of the season. Boston answered immediately in the bottom half, as Mickey Gasper led off with a solo shot to right-center, his seventh, tying the game at 1.
The Mariners broke the game open with a five-run second inning against Boston starter Jedixson Paez. Josh Naylor doubled to right, Cole Young singled Naylor to third, and Lazaro Montes walked to load the bases. J.P. Crawford then drove in Naylor with a sacrifice fly to right, putting Seattle ahead 2-1. Brock Rodden singled to center, scoring Young and sending Montes to third. Arozarena followed with his 22nd home run of the season, a three-run shot to left field that made it 6-1.
Paez, who was making his first major league appearance of the season, lasted only 1 2/3 innings. He allowed six runs on four hits and a walk, striking out none. He was charged with the loss, dropping him to 0-1.
Seattle extended the lead in the third. Naylor singled to center with one out, and Young followed with a line-drive single to right that put runners at the corners. Montes then singled to right, scoring Naylor to make it 7-1. The Mariners loaded the bases later in the inning when Crawford walked, but Brock Rodden and Arozarena both struck out to end the threat.
The Mariners added another run in the fourth. Julio Rodriguez doubled to left, and Cal Raleigh drove him in with a double to left, stretching the lead to 8-1. It was Raleigh’s 10th double of the season.
Montes made it 9-1 in the fifth when he led off with a home run to center field, the first of his major league career. Boston avoided further damage as Crawford doubled, Rodden walked, and both were left stranded when Arozarena lined out, Canzone struck out and Rodriguez popped out.
Boston scratched out a run in the bottom of the sixth against Woo without the benefit of a hit. Wilyer Abreu led off with a double, his 32nd of the season, and moved to third when Caleb Durbin reached on a throwing error by third baseman Brock Rodden. Abreu scored on the play, cutting the deficit to 9-2. Woo retired Jarren Duran on a groundout to end the inning.
The Red Sox drew closer in the seventh against the Seattle bullpen. Connor Wong walked with one out, and Roman Anthony singled to right to put runners at first and second. Mickey Gasper grounded into a force out at second, leaving Wong at third. Eli White then doubled to left against Seattle reliever José A. Ferrer, scoring Wong and Gasper and trimming Seattle’s lead to 9-4. Wilyer Abreu lined out to left to end the inning.
Seattle’s bullpen held Boston in the eighth. Ferrer returned for the inning and retired Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a popout to catcher Cal Raleigh before striking out Durbin. Andrés Muñoz entered and allowed a single to Duran and a soft ground-ball single to Trevor Story before getting Wong to ground into a force out at second, leaving two runners stranded.
Boston made things interesting in the ninth against Seattle reliever Hoby Milner. Anthony led off with a sharp single to center, and Jahmai Jones, pinch-hitting for Kiner-Falefa, followed with a two-run home run to left field, his fifth of the season, making it 9-6. Milner retired White on a lineout to the pitcher, then struck out Abreu. Muñoz came back on to close it out and got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to ground out to second, securing the win for Seattle.
The Mariners finished with 14 hits, getting multiple-hit games from several players. Naylor went 3 for 5 with a double and two runs scored. Montes drove in two runs with his home run and a run-scoring single. Young had two hits, scored twice and drew a walk. Arozarena’s home run was his only hit of the night in five at-bats. Canzone also homered, giving him two hits on the night.
The Red Sox had 11 hits, with Gasper, Anthony, Abreu, Duran and Trevor Story each collecting multiple hits. White drove in two runs with his double. Jones provided a late spark with his pinch-hit home run. Boston had a chance for more in the seventh but stranded a runner when Abreu lined out to end the inning.
Seattle’s bullpen contributed 3 2/3 scoreless innings after Woo left. Ferrer allowed two inherited runners to score in the seventh but was otherwise effective, striking out one and allowing two hits in 1 1/3 innings. Muñoz earned his 11th save of the season, striking out one in 2/3 of an inning. Milner was charged with two runs on two hits in the ninth, but Muñoz closed the door.
The victory improved Seattle’s record to 65-74. The Mariners had lost the opener of this three-game series Monday, dropping an extra-inning game to Boston when the Red Sox won 9-8 in 10 innings. Tuesday’s win stopped a three-game losing streak for Seattle, which had been swept in four games at Toronto over the weekend and lost to Philadelphia at home before that. The Mariners had been outscored 22-3 during their previous three games.
Boston fell to 78-64 with the loss. The Red Sox had won the series opener Monday and had taken two of three from San Francisco earlier in the week. Boston also lost two of three to the New York Yankees over the weekend, getting shut out in one of those games. The Red Sox now have dropped four of their past six.
The game lasted 3 hours 23 minutes and drew an announced attendance of 35,758 at Fenway Park.
The two teams close the series Wednesday afternoon at Fenway, with Seattle’s scheduled starter facing Boston’s for the rubber match. After that, Seattle returns home to host Oakland, while Boston travels to Baltimore for a four-game set.
Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Boston 6, Seattle 4 entering the game. Interstat’s ELO system had given Boston a 62.90 percent probability to win. Boston was installed as a pregame favorite with a run line of minus 1.5. The combined total of 15 runs went under the over/under of 8.5.