Red Sox Win Decisively in Series Against the Mariners

Boston won two games against the Marines’ one in this recent series. In the first game on Monday, May 16, the Mariners beat the Sox 10-1 in an exciting game for Seattle fans. The second two games were losses. Tuesday, the score was Boston 9, Mariners 4. The final game of the series on Wednesday was a 12-3 win by the Red Sox.

Game 1: SEA 10 BOS 1

I will remember two players from the first game: George Kirby and Cal Raleigh. And . . . the rest of the guys did well too, of course!

George Kirby pitched 6.2 innings, allowing eight hits but only one run. He struck out six Red Sox batters. His relievers—Gabe Speier, Tyler Saucedo, and Chris Flexen—followed with scoreless innings. The game illustrated the strengths of the Mariners’ starters and relievers!

The Mariners’ offense was hot, scoring 10 runs from 15 hits with three homeruns. Ty France, Julio Rodríguez, and Jarred Kelenic had one RBI each. AJ Pollock and Geno Suárez had two RBIs each, and Cal Raleigh had four.

Raleigh hit his first HR as a lefty and his second HR as a righty so broke a record at Fenway that had been in place since 1901 when another catcher homered twice as a switch hitter. Amazing!

The Second and Third Games

These games share some similarities: the Red Sox players hit extremely well and Seattle’s starting pitchers struggled. Seattle pitching is key for keeping the opponents’ scores low and when the Mariners are playing a strong hitting team, there is a greater likelihood that the opponent will win.

Game 2 SEA 4, BOS 9

I made some positive observations about the Mariners’ hitting. In the second game, they had eight hits that converted into four runs. This was not a shutout. In the top of the fourth, the Mariners scored four points with a single by Eugenio Suárez, a Cal Raleigh walk, a Teoscar Hernández triple, and a homerun from Taylor Trammell.

While these other hits did not show up on the scoreboard in Game 2, I thought they were positive signs for the Mariners’ offense.

• Kolton Wong and Ty France doubled.

• Bases were loaded in the 2nd inning.

• Teo Hernández and Tayler Trammell each had two 2-out RBIs.

• Ty France and Julio Rodríguez were on base in the 5th.

• Rodríguez was on base in the 6th and Hernández was on base in the 8th.

Game 3: SEA 3, BOS 12

In Game 3, several players were on base.

• In the second inning, Eugenio Suárez and Cal Raleigh walked.

• In the third inning, José Caballero walked. J.P. Crawford went to first after being hit by a pitch. Jarred Kelenic walked. The bases were loaded. No score

• In the fourth inning, Cal Raleigh hit a double and José Caballero singled, enabling Raleigh to score.

• In the fifth inning, Julio Rodríguez hit. Jarred Kelenic doubled, putting Rodríguez on third. Cal Raleigh walked. The bases were loaded. No score.

• In the sixth inning, Caballero and Sam Haggerty walked. Ty France singled. The bases were loaded. Julio’s ground ball led to a forced out, but Caballero and Haggerty scored.

• In the eighth inning, Taylor Trammell walked. Sam Haggerty doubled.

Since the beginning of the season, the Mariners have had an average of eight hits per game, so they have typically been on base eight times plus walks, being hit by pitches, etc. They average 4.4 runs per game. Seattle needs to do more of what they did on Monday - convert base appearances into runs. It is easy to say, but we have seen them do it! We will see whether they do this in Atlanta.

Go Mariners!