The Mariners wasted no time getting to Velazquez in the top of the first inning as Mitch Haniger walked to start. JP Crawford doubled and Edwin Encarnacion scored Haniger with a sac fly to put Seattle up 3 batters into the game. Daniel Vogelbach lined out to second and Domingo Santana grounded out to short to end the inning with the Mariners up 1-0.
The Sox equally wasted no time getting the lead against Seattle starter Marco Gonzales. Andrew Benintendi whiffed and Mr. Mookie Betts grounded out to short, but JD Martinez smashed his 6th homer of the year to tie the game. Xander Bogaerts walked and the red hot Rafael Devers singled Bogaerts to third. Michael Chavis blooped a single over the head of Shed Long to score Bogaerts and move Devers to third. Devers scored on a passed ball before Christian Vazquez popped up to short to end the inning with the Sox ahead 3-1.
Velazquez bounced back in the top of the second as Omar Narvaez looked at strike three to start. Jay Bruce flied out to center and Tim Bekcham grounded out to second to end the inning. The Sox struck again due to shoddy defense in the bottom of the second although Steve Pearce grounded out to third to start. Eduardo Nunez whiffed but Benintendi walked. Mr. Mookie hit a routine pop up to Bruce...WHO DROPPED IT! Not only that, Bruce threw to third base which allowed Benintendi to come all the way around to score. Martinez flied out to center to end the inning but the Sox were ahead 4-1.
Shed Long walked to open the top of the third but Haniger popped up to first. Crawford was rung up for strike three and Long was gunned down trying to steal at second to end the inning Bogaerts walked to start the bottom of the third but was forced at second when Long dropped a pop up by Devers. Chavis banged into a double play to end the inning.
Velazquez cruised in the top of the fourth inning as Encarnacion popped up to first to start. Vogelbach flied out to center and Santana lined out to right to end the inning. Vazquez doubled to start the bottom of the fourth but Pearce whiffed. Vazquez moved to third on a Nunez grounder but Benintendi flied out to center to end the inning.
Velazquez came back for one more inning in the top of the fifth but Narvaez greeted him with a 568,000 foot home run into the Atlantic Ocean to cut the lead. Velazquez recovered to strike out Bruce and get Beckam to line out to center. Long flied out to center to end the inning. It wasn't pretty but Velazquez would collect his first win with 5 gutty innings of 2 run ball.
The Sox iced the game in the bottom of the fifth against Peter Markel. Mr. Mookie lined out to right and Martinez grounded out to short but Bogaerts walked. Devers doubled and Chavis hit a routine pop up down the line....that Long slipped and fell allowing the ball to drop in for a "single" to score both runners. Vazquez singled but was thrown out trying to steal to end the inning but it was 6-2 Sox.
Marcus Walden was first out of the bullpen in the top of the sixth and struck out Haniger to begin. Crawford lined out to center before Encarnacion grounded out to short to end the inning. Anthony Swarzek came in for the bottom of the sixth and whiffed Pearce to start. Nunez popped up to first befor Benintendi whiffed to end the inning.
Walden struck out Vogelbach to open the top of the seventh before Santana lined out to left. Narvaez doubled but Bruce whiffed to end the inning. The Sox beat up Dan Altavilla in the bottom of the seventh as Betts, Martinez and Bogaerts all walked to load the bases. Devers scored Betts with a grounder before Chavis singled home both Martinez and Bogaerts. Vazquez walked to chase Altavilla. Mike Wright Jr got Pearce to bang into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 9-2.
Josh Smith came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Beckham grounded out to short to start. Long lined out to third before Haniger singled. Crawford hit a routine grounder to Pearce but was so distracted that the Boston Bruins scored a goal, he let the ball go through for an error. Encarnacion whiffed to end the inning. The Sox finished off the scoring in the bottom of the eighth although Nunez grounded out to short to begin. Benintendi whiffed before Mr. Mookie doubled to right. Martinez blasted his second homer of the day onto the Mass Pike to increase the lead before Bogaerts singled. The smoking hot Devers singled in the hole at second but Chavis whiffed to end the inning with the Sox ahead 11-2.
Smith got Vogelbach to ground out to first to start the top of the ninth before Santana grounded out to short. Narvaez grounded out to second to end the game. The Sox had won their 5th in a row and swept the Mariners out of Fenway with an 11-2 win.
Hero of the Night is Michael Chavis. The rookie had 5 rbis to break out of the slump he was in.
The Good:
JD Martinez was 2 for 3 with a walk, 2 home runs, 3 total rbis and 3 total runs scored.
Xander Bogaerts was 1 for 1 with 4 walks and 3 runs scored.
Rafael Devers was 3 for 5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored.
Christian Vazquez was 2 for 3 with a walk.
Hector Velazquez got the win by tossing 5 gutty innings of 2 run ball. He allowed just 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3.
Marcus Walden tossed 2 scoreless innings.
Josh Smith tossed 2 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Steve Pearce was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Eduardo Nunez was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
The Ugly:
Andrew Benintendi was 0 for 4 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts but walked and scored.
Mookie Betts was just 1 for 4 but walked and scored 2 runs.
Final Thoughts:
In front of a paltry crowd due to bad weather and the Boston Bruins playing the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 2 of the East Finals at the Garden, the Sox still put on a good show. The Sox looked terrible opening week but this time it was Seattle that were the stumble bums. The Sox got hot at the right time with the New York Yankees taking 2 of 3 from the Tampa Bay Rays to inch the Sox closer to first place. The offense clicked and surprisingly Velazquez and the JV bullpen pitched well to hold the Mariners to 2 runs. Another few weeks like this and we'll be laughing at the poor start the Sox had. The win improved the Sox to 22-19, 3 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox are back in action Tuesday Night when the Colorado Rockies come to town. Kyle Freeland starts for the Rockies and Chris Sale (1-5, 4.50 ERA) starts for Boston at 7:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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