SEATTLE — Manager Alex Cora is fond of saying the Red Sox are a formidable team when they play good defense. The reverse is true in that they’re a frustratingly mediocre team when they don’t.
A slide down the standings with poor fielding as a root cause continued Monday night as four unearned runs led to a 5-4 loss against the Seattle Mariners.
Kyle Schwarber’s two-out misplay of a routine ground ball in the seventh inning opened the door to Seattle scoring three runs.
Down, 5-2, the Sox got home runs by Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers in the eighth inning, but fell short in their first game at T-Mobile Park in 2½ years.
Drew Steckenrider finished the game for his ninth save, striking out two.
The Sox have lost six of their last eight games. At 81-65, they went into Tuesday’s games a game behind the Blue Jays for the first wild-card spot. Toronto (81-63) had won 12 of 13.
By percentage points, the Sox were in fourth place in the American League East for the first time since April, but essentially tied with the 80-64 Yankees for the second wild card.
The Mariners (78-66) were two games behind.
Ryan Brasier started the seventh inning in a 2-2 game and got two quick outs before pinch hitter Jake Bauers grounded to first base. Schwarber, an outfielder playing his sixth career game at first, booted the ball to extend the inning.
“It was in the glove, it squirted out, and that was it,” Schwarber said. “I’m frustrated. I wanted to make that play . . . there’s no excuses.”
J.P. Crawford followed with a single and Mitch Haniger with a home run to left field.
Brasier threw three consecutive sliders, the third low in the strike zone but over the plate, and Haniger didn’t miss it. It was his 33rd homer.
“Not the one we really wanted, but he put a good swing on it,” Cora said.
The Sox have allowed 33 unearned runs since the All-Star break, tops in the American League. Not coincidentally, they are 26-29 since the break.
“It’s frustrating, but we’ve got to keep working at it,” Cora said. “We’ve got to keep putting in the work . . . at this level you have to be good defensively. We know we can be better.”
But with only 16 games remaining, this is the team the Sox have. To advance to the postseason, they’ll have to overcome their defense.
Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez allowed two runs and threw 55 pitches over the first two innings. It could have been worse.
Crawford led off the first with a double down the line in left. Haniger followed with a bloop single to center. A run scored when Ty France grounded into a double play.
Abraham Toro walked to open the second inning. Luis Torrens singled to right field and the ball was kicked by Hunter Renfroe, which allowed Toro to go to third. It was Renfroe’s 10th error, the most in the majors by an outfielder.
Tom Murphy followed with a sharply hit ball to the shortstop hole that Bogaerts made a nice backhanded stop on to get the force at second as a run scored.
Rodriguez struck out Jarred Kelenic to finish an 11-pitch at-bat and Dylan Moore to end the inning.
Rodriguez didn’t allow another run. He went six innings and threw 107 pitches, his second-most of the season. The Mariners fouling off 33 pitches had a lot to do with that.
“It was a grinder for me, all the way from the first inning to the sixth,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez allowed the one earned run on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts. He retired 15 of the final 18 batters he faced.
Cora thought Rodriguez was pitching well enough to come back out for the seventh, but felt the bullpen was positioned well.
“He had a lot today, you could see it with the fastball,” Cora said. “He did an amazing job.”
Mariners rookie righthander Logan Gilbert, a first-round pick in 2018, struck out nine over six innings and allowed two runs on five hits. Both were produced by José Iglesias.
Iglesias hit his first home run for the Red Sox since 2013 when he drove a slider over the fence in left in the third inning.
Singles by Alex Verdugo, Christian Vázquez, and Iglesias made it 2-2 in the fifth inning. Iglesias’s single was a popup that landed inside the foul line in right field.
With two on and one out, both Kiké Hernández and Schwarber were retired on fly balls to left field.
The Sox are 1-3 on their road trip with two games to go. They have lost 17 of their last 24 games away from Fenway Park.