Before the game the Boston Red Sox made an expected roster move. Chris Stynes was placed on the Disabled List with a fractured cheekbone and Lou Merloni was called up to replace him. Its a shame Stynes got hurt because he was playing well when he took the fastball to the face. Thanks a lot Aaron Sele!
Ohka got the ball in the top of the first inning and Ichiro Suzuki led off with a fly out to left to begin. Stan Javier grounded out to short but Edgar Martinez walked. John Olerud grounded out to short to end the inning. Halama got the start for Seattle and Darren Lewis led off the bottom of the first with a groundout to third. Jose Offerman flied out to right and Carl Everett whiffed to end the inning.
Ohka cruised in the top of the second inning as Bret Boone flied out to right, Al Martin grounded out to second and David Bell flied out to left to end the inning. Manny Ramirez walked to start the bottom of the second but Dante Bichette banged into a double play. Jason Varitek grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Ohka whiffed Dan Wilson to begin the top of the third but Carlos Guillen singled to right. Guillen was erased on the Ichiro force and Javier grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox blew a huge chance to take the lead in the bottom of the third after John Valentin doubled to start. Shea Hillenbrand beat out an infield single to short but Valentin had to stay at second. Lansing dropped down a bunt to move the runners over but Lewis killed the rally with a pop up to short. Offerman grounded out to short to end the inning. What a waste.
The Mariners did nothing in the top of the fourth inning as Martinez looked at strike three to start. Olerud grounded out to first and Boone grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox also did nothing in the bottom of the fourth as Everett whiffed to start. Ramirez flied out to right and Bichette hit one up the elevator shaft to end the inning.
Seattle struck first in the top of the fifth inning as Martin singled to start. Bell whiffed and Wilson flied out to right but Guillen singled into the gap. Martin came all the way around and Varitek applied the tag....SAFE! Martin was ruled safe at the plate and Varitek went berserk. He threw the baseball into the fourth row and chucked his mask at home plate umpire Mark Wegner. Varitek got the heave-ho and had to be escorted out of Fenway by armed mounted police officers. Guillen took second on the throw as the Mariners took the lead. Scott Hatteberg took Varitek's place at the dish and Ichiro singled home Guillen. Ichiro swiped second but Javier grounded out to second to end the inning with the Mariners up 2-0.
The Sox did manage to fight back in the bottom of the fifth although Hatteberg grounded out to short to start. Valentin walked and Hillenbrand hit a routine grounder to Boone...WHO THREW IT AWAY! Both runners moved into scoring position as Valentin scored on the sac fly by Lansing to cut the lead. Lewis looked at strike three to end the inning but the Sox were back in it 2-1.
Sox manager Jimy Williams gambled by sending Ohka back out for the top of the sixth and it backfired. Martinez clubbed a 3,000 foot home run to give the Mariners the two run lead back before Olerud singled. Boone atoned for his error by launching a 200,000 foot home run to ice the game and chase Ohka. Tomo did well but fell apart in the 6th, allowing 5 runs in 5 plus innings. Derek Lowe came in to put out the fire and Martin lined out to center. Bell grounded out to third before Wilson singled. Guillen grounded out to short to end the inning with the Mariners up 5-1.
The Sox did manage to strike back in the bottom of the 6th as Offerman doubled to start. Everett flied out to center to move Offerman to third as that was it for Halama. Jeff Nelson came in and all Ramirez could do was ground out to score Offerman with a run to cut the lead. Bichette grounded out to third to end the inning with the Sox down 5-2.
Lowe returned for the top of the seventh and got Ichiro to ground out to short to begin. Javier walked and moved to second on the Martinez ground out. Olerud was intentionally walked to get to Boone who flied out to right to end the inning. The Sox pissed away a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh. Hatteberg singled and Valentin walked to bring the tying run to the plate...but Hillenbrand whiffed. Norm Charlton was brought in to pitch as Sox manager Jimy Williams countered by bringing in Brian Daubach to pinch hit for Lansing much to Mike's dismay. Daubach whiffed and Lewis grounded out to second to end the inning, what a waste.
Tim Wakefield came in to pitch the top of the eighth and he whiffed Martin to start. Bell struck out swinging before Wilson grounded out to second to end the inning. Charles Gipson came in for Martin for the bottom of the eighth and the Sox went quietly. Offerman whiffed, Everett lined out to second and Ramirez flied out to left to end the inning.
Rod Beck came in to pitch the top of the ninth and got three straight flyball outs. Guillen flied out to center while both Ichiro and Javier flied out to left to end the inning. Kazuhiro Sasaki came in to close out the bottom of the ninth but Bichette doubled to start. Hatteberg grounded out to short but Dante moved to third. Valentin popped up to short and Hillenbrand flied out to right to end the game. The Mariners had held on to win 5-2.
Jackass of the Night is Tomo Ohka. He got knocked out in the 6th inning while allowing 5 runs on 5 hits and a walk.
Jackass Tomo
The Good:
John Valentin was 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a run scored.
Mike Lansing sacrificed twice and drove in a run.
Derek Lowe pitched 2 scoreless innings.
Tim Wakefield pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Rod Beck pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Darren Lewis was 0 for 4 with a strikeout
Carl Everett was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Jason Varitek was 0 for 1 before getting ejected.
Brian Daubach struck out as a pinch hitter.
The Ugly:
Jose Offerman was just 1 for 4 but scored a run.
Manny Ramirez was 0 for 3 but walked and drove in a run.
Dante Bichette was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
The Mariners are off to a hot start and the Sox got caught up in the blaze. The Mariners are pitching, hitting and defending well and today was no different. The Sox couldn't get that clutch hit to put them in the game and Ohka pitched well until he ran out of gas. The Sox are going to need to find a way to beat the Mariners because they look for real this year. Getting Nomar Garciaparra, David Cone and Chris Stynes back healthy is a must going forward. The Mariners have won 4 of 6 against the Sox but the good news is they don't have to play each other again. The loss knocked the Sox out of first place as they are now 20-15 on the season, 0.5 games back of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night the Sox are back in action against the visiting Oakland A's. Paxton Crawford (3-1) fresh off beating Barry Zito goes for the Sox up against Cory Lidle of the A's tomorrow night at 7:05 PM at Fenway Park.
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