SEATTLE -- Yet again, poor defense cost the Red Sox in a big way Monday night in Seattle.
Two errors -- a Hunter Renfroe misplay in the second inning and a Kyle Schwarber missed grounder in the seventh -- led to four Mariners runs as Seattle beat Boston, 5-4, in the opening game of a three-game series at T-Mobile Park. Schwarber’s error -- the would-be final out of the seventh -- was a crusher, as Mitch Haniger broke a 2-2 tie with a three-run homer two batters later in what would prove to be the difference in the game.
Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez ran into trouble early, allowing back-to-back hits to J.P. Crawford (double) and Haniger (single) to lead off the first inning before Seattle took a 1-0 lead when Crawford scored on a Ty France double play ball. In the second, after an Abraham Toro leadoff walk, Luis Torrens singled off Rodriguez then advanced to second when Renfroe booted the one-hopper in right field. Tom Murphy put the Mariners up 2-0 with an RBI groundout.
As Rodriguez settled in, the Red Sox were able to tie the game thanks to light-hitting No. 9 hitter José Iglesias. Iglesias made it a one-run game with a solo homer in the third, then tied the game with an RBI single on a blooper in the fifth.
Rodriguez ended up lasting six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits while recording six strikeouts. He threw 107 pitches, the second-most he has all season.
Ryan Brasier needed five pitches to record the first two outs of the seventh and looked to have secured a 1-2-3 inning when pinch-hitter Jake Bauers hit a grounder right at Schwarber at first. But Schwarber booted the ball, allowing Bauers to reach, and Crawford then singled to put two men on for Haniger. Haniger’s blast -- a 363-foot shot to left field -- put Seattle up, 5-2.
The Red Sox didn’t cower there, as Xander Bogaerts (107.6 mph, 416 feet) and Rafael Devers (109.2 mph, 382 feet) crushed back-to-back, two-out homers off Paul Sewald in the eighth to bring Boston back within a run.
After Josh Taylor worked out of a jam in the eighth, Mariners closer Drew Steckenrider tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to clinch the win for Seattle. With the loss -- Boston’s sixth in eight games -- the Red Sox fell to 81-65. They now trail the Blue Jays by one game for the first wild-card spot in the American League and are percentage points behind the Yankees for the second wild-card spot.
Eovaldi to pitch Tuesday
Righty Nathan Eovaldi (11-8, 5.15 ERA) will be tasked with stopping Boston’s mini-slide Tuesday night as he gets the ball in the second game of the series. Southpaw Tyler Anderson (6-9, 4.20 ERA) is set to pitch for the Mariners. First pitch is scheduled for 10:10 p.m. ET.
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