If there was ever a game the Boston Red Sox didn't want to play, it was today against the Seattle Mariners. Nathan Eovaldi (3-2, 3.77 ERA) didn't have it as he was knocked out after allowing 5 runs in 5 innings by the Mariners. The offense was shut down by Seattle starter Chris Flexen who held the Sox to just one run in seven innings. The Mariners attacked relievers Josh Taylor and Phillips Valdez for 3 more runs and cruised to an easy 8-2 win over the Sox at Fenway Park.
The Mariners wasted no time getting to Eovaldi in the top of the first inning as Mitch Haniger flied out to right to start. Ty France doubled to right and scored on the Kyle Seager single to right. Jose Marmolejos flied out to center but Evan White singled to right. Taylor Trammell was plunked to load the bases bit Luis Torrens grounded into a force to end the inning with the Mariners up 1-0.
Chris Flexen dominated the bottom of the first as Christian Arroyo grounded out to second to start. Alex Verdugo grounded out to first and JD Martinez lined out to first to end the inning.
The Mariners iced the game in the top of the second as Sam Haggerty singled to left to begin. JP Crawford lined out to left but Haggerty stole second. Haniger struck out swinging but France singled to third. Seager tripled over the head of Verdugo to ice the game and scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead. Marmolejos struck out swinging to end the inning with the Mariners up 4-0.
Xander Bogaerts tried to start a rally with a base hit to left to start the bottom of the second, then took second on a Rafael Devers grounder back to the mound. Marwin Gonzalez struck out swinging but Bobby Dalbec grounded out to third to end the inning.
Eovaldi got White to ground out to short to start the top of the third but Trammell popped up to third. Torrens struck out swinging to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the third as Franchy Cordero struck out swinging to start. Kevin Plawecki took strike three and Arroyo struck out swinging to end the inning.
Haggerty lined out to center to start the top of the fourth and Crawford grounded out to second. Haniger grounded out to third to end the inning. The Sox blew a rally in the bottom of the fourth as Verdugo singled to left to start. Martinez walked but Bogaerts flied out to left and Devers banged into a double play to end the inning.
The Mariners struck again in the top of the fifth as France lined out to first to start. Seager doubled to center but Marmolejos popped up to short. A wild pitch moved Seager to third but White walked. Trammell hit a routine grounder to Bogaerts who picked the ball up and fell backwards with his feet up in the air for an error to score Seager. Torrens popped up to second to end the inning with Seattle up 5-0. That was it for Eovaldi who didn't have it, allowing 5 runs in 5 innings.
Gonzalez grounded back to the mound to start the bottom of the fifth and Dalbec took strike three. Cordero whiffed to end the inning.
Austin Brice came in to pitch the top of the sixth and Haggerty struck out swinging to start. Crawford lined out to center and Haniger lined out to left to end the inning. The Sox did nothing in the bottom of the sixth as Plawecki struck out swinging to start. Arroyo grounded out to third and Verdugo grounded out to second to end the inning.
France doubled to center to chase Brice in the top of the seventh and Josh Taylor came in to pitch. Seager whiffed and Marmolejos popped up to third, but a passed ball moved France to third. White took strike three to end the inning. The Sox finally got a run back in the bottom of the seventh as Martinez was plunked to start. Bogaerts banged into a double play but Devers doubled to center. Gonzalez lashed a base hit to center to score Devers and break up the shutout. Dalbec grounded into a force to end the inning but it was now 5-1 Mariners.
The Mariners tagged Taylor in the top of the eighth inning Trammell struck out swinging to start and Torrens grounded out to second, but Haggerty pounded a home run to the Moon to increase the lead. Crawford singled to left to chase Taylor. Phillips Valdez came in and got Haniger to ground out to third to end the inning but it was 6-1 Mariners.
Keynan Middleton came in for the bottom of the fifth and Cordero earned the hat trick by striking out swinging. Plawecki flied out to right and Arroyo whiffed to end the inning.
Valdez got tagged in the top of the ninth as France walked to start. Seager popped up to third but Marmolejas walked. Both runners moved over on the wild pitch and White got a base hit to left to score France. Trammell struck out swinging but Torrens was plunked. Haggerty singled past the diving Dalbec to score Marmolejos but Crawford whiffed to end the inning with the Mariners up 8-1.
White drives in a run
Will Vest came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and Verdugo doubled to right to start. Martinez grounded back to the mound and Bogaerts lined out to right, but Devers doubled home Verdugo. Gonzalez grounded out to first to end the game. The Mariners had won it 8-2.
Mariners win
Eovaldi the Jackass
Jackass of the Night is Nathan Eovaldi. He got hammered for 5 runs in 5 innings.
The Good:
Alex Verdugo was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
JD Martinez walked and was hit with a pitch in four plate appearances.
Rafael Devers was 2 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored.
Austin Brice pitched a full scoreless inning.
The Bad:
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Franchy Cordero was 0 for 3 with a hat trick of 3 strikeouts.
Kevin Plawecki was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts.
Josh Taylor allowed a run in 1 2/3 innings.
Phillips Valdez allowed 2 runs in 1 1/3 innings.
The Ugly:
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4.
Marwin Gonzalez was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but scored a run.
Final Thoughts:
That nine game winning streak covered up a lot of warts that are showing now. The bottom of the batting order is borderline useless and they're struggling trying to adjust to Fenway Park defensively to boot. Eovaldi was mortal today and the Mariners took advantage of that. With the Sox struggling offensively, it was imperative for the pitching to hold up but it hasn't. Not just Eovaldi but Valdez and Taylor got tagged too. The bottom line is the Sox are an average team right now but can be fixed. The Sox are waiting for the minor league season to start so they can evaluate a few prospects. Boston just has to survive until June or so and help will be on the way. As of now, if Bogaerts and Martinez aren't cooking, they're not scoring. That's not a recipe for success moving forward. Devers, Vazquez and Verdugo are too good not to heat up at some point but as of right now its looking ugly. Tomorrow is a new day and the Sox look to even this series when they send Eduardo Rodriguez (3-0) to the mound against Nick Margevicius of the Mariners. The game begins at 1:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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