Seattle Mariners' Jorge Polanco (7) celebrates after his solo home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
BOSTON (AP) — Jorge Polanco homered in the fourth inning and added an RBI double in the sixth, Dylan Moore drove in three with a bases-loaded double in a five-run fifth, and the Mariners beat the Boston Red Sox 10-6 on Tuesday night.
An eight-run outburst midway through the game helped Seattle win for the fourth time in five games as the Mariners capitalized on some defensive gaffes that had Boston fans booing.
“Really excited about our offense. The guys are really starting to come together,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais, whose club has won four of five and avenged a 14-7 rout by Boston on Monday night.
The Mariners have scored six or more runs in each of their last five games, outscoring opponents 39-26 during that stretch.
Seattle starter Luis Castillo (9-10) pitched six innings, holding Boston to three runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out three.
“Yesterday I felt like we were punched a lot. But tonight, most of the guys came in with the mentality ‘It’s not going to stay like that,’” Castillo said through a translator.
Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer for Boston in the third. The Red Sox added three more runs in the seventh, but could not complete a comeback from a 10-3 deficit.
The Red Sox made three errors, including two in the fifth, when the Mariners chased starter James Paxton (8-3), and another in the sixth. Paxton, picked up by Boston in a trade last week with the Los Angeles Dodgers, pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and striking out five.
“Obviously we didn’t play defense behind him,” Boston manager Alex Cora said.
The Mariners had 11 at-bats in the fifth. A throwing error by first baseman Dominic Smith followed by a fielder’s choice loaded the bases for Seattle. Shortstop Ceddanne Rafaela pulled Smith off the bag and allowed Randy Arozarena to reach on a fielder’s choice — after a successful challenge by the Mariners overturned the original call.
Justin Turner drove in a run with a fielder’s choice, Polanco drew a walk and then Moore hit a double off reliever Zack Kelly off of the Green Monster to clear the bases for three more runs.
“We’ve had two consistent nights of offense, which is great,” said Moore, who went 2 for 3 and reached base four times.
Reliever Yohan Ramírez allowed a run to score on a wild pitch in the sixth, then Ramírez hit Mitch Garver. Garver stole second and when Boston catcher Connor Wong’s throw bounced into center field Polanco scored.
Turner made his debut for the Mariners one day after Seattle acquired him in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays. Turner, who spent last season with the Red Sox, drove in a pair of runs and Arozarena, who just joined Seattle over the weekend after a trade with Tampa Bay, also drove in a run.
“This ballpark, as hitter friendly as it is, you’re going to outscore them certain nights and that’s what we did,” Servais said. “A lot of good things offensively. It’s been a really good road trip for us offensively, so credit to our guys. We’re starting to get some rhythm going there.”
TRAINER’S ROOM`
Mariners: CF Victor Robles left the game in the eighth with what Servais described as a “hip issue” that will keep him out of the lineup Wednesday. “It’s hard to take him out, but we’ve got to do what’s best for him,” Servais said.
Red Sox: SS Ceddanne Rafaela spent a few minutes with trainers after getting hit by a pitch in the bottom of the fifth. He remained in the game.
UP NEXT
RHP George Kirby (8-7, 5.37 ERA) tries to help the Mariners clinch the series with a start Wednesday night against RHP Brayan Bello (10-5, 5.27) for the Red Sox.
___
This story has been corrected to show that Polanco had an RBI double in the sixth, not in the fifth; and Dylan Moore drove in three with a bases-loaded double in the fifth, not a single in the sixth.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
By DOUG ALDEN
Associated Press
This post was last modified on 07/30/2024 9:12 pm
