Boston Red Sox breeze past Seattle Mariners 6-4 – MLB Update
The Boston Red Sox improved their record to 73-44 for the season after an intense win against the struggling Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field in Seattle, Washington on Friday, August 12.
Jonathan Papelbon proved his mettle yet again from the mound as he held things together for the Red Sox in the all-important ninth inning to improve his tally of saves to 27 this season. With just two runs required to level things in the last inning, Seattle
succumbed to Papelbon’s immaculate pitching.
The Mariners took an early lead in the game when Mike Carp’s single in the first inning allowed Ichiro Suzuki and Franklin Gutierrez to complete their runs and impose a two-run lead on the American League leaders. It was a welcome run for Suzuki who is struggling
this season with a batting average of .267 and a slugging percentage of .315.
The Red Sox lived up to their champion-reputation and replied as soon as the second inning with a David Ortiz home-run and Carl Crawford’s run which was helped by Mike Avile’s sacrifice fly hit. Ortiz, the American League All-Star home-run derby captain,
improved his home-run tally to 24 this season at a slugging percentage of .560.
Mariners added two more runs, one each in the second and the fourth inning, helped by Luis Rodriguez and Gutierrez respectively, but the Red Sox added four quick-runs to seal the game.
Jed Lowrie’s home-run effort in the fifth inning followed by Josh Reddick’s two-run home-run in the sixth inning was enough to see the Red Sox breeze past the Mariners. The outfielder improved his batting average to .322 for the season with his home-run
effort which allowed Jarrod Saltalamacchia to contribute his run to the Red Sox total.
American League’s best batter and Boston’s first baseman Adrian Gonzalez then sealed the night with his 79th run of the season at the top of the seventh inning which took the Red Sox two-runs ahead of the Mariners. This lead was never to be recovered
by Mariners who are now 50-67 for the season.
The Red Sox lead the three-game series 1-0 with the next two games scheduled for August 13 and 14.
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