Wednesday July 23, 2008

Red Sox 6, Mariners 3 

Red Sox 2nd Baseman Dustin Pedroia scores in the 3rd.

In the top of the 12th inning in a hard fought ballgame, Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell hit a two-run single to finish off the M’s 6-3 taking advantage of two critical outfield errors that ultimately cost the M’s the ballgame.  The sweep for the BoSox was their first sweep in Seattle in fifteen years.

The Mariner lineup had some rare second half firepower as Raul Ibanez hit his 14th bomb of the year in the 4th, and Jose Vidro added a two-run shot in the 6th off of Boston starter Clay Buchholz to tie the game at 3-3.  It was Vidro’s 6th home-run of the year. 

The score remained tied at 3-0 until the 12th as both teams got some great relief pitching. 

Felix Hernandez came out after six innings, with six hits, six strikeouts, three runs, and a season high five walks. Buchholz countered allowing seven hits and three runs in 5 1/3 innings, with two walks and seven strikeouts. 

J.J. Putz and Brandon Morrow combined to pitch four scoreless innings of relief totalling 5 strikeouts, and only one hit. American League Games pitched leader Sean Green (2-3) picked up the loss in the 12th.  Jonathan Papelbon was forced into duty in the 11th for the third straight day and ended up picking up the win.  Craig Hansen recorded his second save of the season after finishing off Seattle in the bottom of the 12th.

It was an up and down game in the field for gold glove outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.  In a scoreless ballgame in the third, Ichiro sprinted with his back turned to the ball, running straight back towards the wall and leaped above the wall to take what would have been a three-run homer away from J.D. Drew.  A few pitches later, Boston’s Kevin Youkilis hit an RBI single to right field that Ichiro fielded then bobbled and hiccuped, scoring Dustin Pedroia and Coco Crisp.  It was the second error of the season fro Ichiro.  Ichiro was also picked off at first base earlier in the game.

Mariners left leader and team leader Raul Ibanez summed up the Mariners tough stretch of play after seeing his team lose it 5th straight game. “It’s tough,” Ibanez said. “But you keep battling and keep fighting. Scratch and claw all the way to the finish line, no matter what happens. Whether 22 games up or 22 games down, you go out there with same tenacity every single day, no matter what’s going on around you.”

The Mariners will have a much needed day off on Thursday before heading to Toronto for a weekend road trip against the Jays.

Is there going to be any changes to the team before Friday?

Mariners Blog