What a day for the Boston Red Sox. Eduardo Rodriguez (4-0. 3.52 ERA) stepped up for the struggling Red Sox rotation to beat the Seattle Mariners in the final game of the homestand. Offensively the Sox didn't do much after the second inning but took advantage of wild Seattle starter Nick Margevicius for 4 runs in the first. The Sox added a run in the fifth inning and it was the Eduardo Rodriguez show from there on. Marwin Gonzalez started at short and made several good defensive plays to secure the lead and the Red Sox A-Team relievers shut down the Mariners in the end. The Sox go into the New York Mets series with a 5-3 win at Fenway Park.
The Mariners picked up where they left off yesterday by tagging Rodriguez in the top of the first. Mitch Haniger and Ty France smacked back to back doubles to left to put the Mariners up early again. Rodriguez recovered to get Kyle Seager to fly out to right and Kyle Lewis popped up to second. Evan White struck out swinging to end the inning with the Mariners up 1-0.
The Sox rallied in the bottom of the first against Margevicius as Kike Hernandez singled to right to start. Rafael Devers and JD Martinez drew back to back walks to load the bases. Xander Bogaerts struck out swinging but Christian Vazquez blooped a base hit to right to score Hernandez. Hunter Renfroe walked to score Devers and Marwin Gonzalez walked to score Martinez. That was it for Margevicius as Drew Steckenrider came in to pitch to Christian Arroyo. Arroyo got hit in the wrist to drive in Renfroe and hopped to first in pain. Bobby Dalbec banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox ahead 4-1.
The Mariners tried to rally in the top of the second as Dylan Moore doubled off the centerfield wall to start. Sam Haggerty grounded out to third and Tom Murphy struck out swinging on a good changeup. JP Crawford took strike three to end the inning. The Sox rallied again in the bottom of the second as Hernandez and Devers drew back to back walks to start. Martinez swung and missed at ball four but Bogaerts lashed a double to left. Hernandez scored easily but Devers missed the stop sign by third base coach Carlos Febles. Devers got caught in a rundown for the second out but Bogaerts made it to third on the play. Vazquez flied out to center to end the inning but the Sox led 5-1.
Gonzalez made a great throw to rob Haniger of a base hit to start the top of the third and France struck out swinging. Seager hit a fly ball that Hernandez had to run half a mile to catch to end the inning. Casey Sadler came in to pitch the bottom of the third and Renfroe swung one handed and flied out to left to begin. Gonzalez walked but Arroyo banged into a double play to end the inning.
Rodriguez froze Lewis for strike three with a curveball on the outside corner to start the top of the fourth. White struck out swinging on a high fastball and Moore was retired on a squibber to end the inning. Dalbec grounded out to short to start the bottom of the fourth. Hernandez flied out to the left field warning track and Devers grounded out to short to end the inning.
The Mariners rallied due to bad defense in the top of the fifth. Gonzalez made a great stab on a Haggerty grounder but Dalbec missed the throw for an error to start and Devers muffed a grounder by Murphy for an rbi "double". Crawford doubled down the first base line to score Murphy but Haniger flied out to right. France took strike three on the inside corner and Seager flied out to right to end the inning with the Mariners down 5-3.
Martinez doubled off the Monster to start the bottom of the fifth but Bogaerts hit one up the elevator shaft. Vazquez moved Martinez to third with a grounder to short and Renfroe whiffed on a straight fastball down the middle to end the inning.
Rodriguez cruised in the top of the sixth as Lewis flied out to left to start on 2 pitches. White grounded out to short on 2 pitches and Moore grounded back to the mound also on 2 pitches to end the inning. Gonzalez flied out to right to start the bottom of the sixth. Arroyo struck out swinging and Dalbec lined out to right to end the inning.
Rodriguez returned for the top of the seventh and Haggerty flied out to left to start. Murphy went down hacking and Gonzalez made a great leaping catch of a Crawford liner to end the inning. Rodriguez didn't have his best stuff but battled for 7 innings, allowing 3 runs on just 4 hits.
Hernandez flied out to right to start the bottom of the seventh and Devers struck out swinging on a straight fastball right down the middle. Martinez doubled to the left field wall but Bogaerts popped up to left to end the inning.
Adam Ottavino was brought in for the top of the eighth and naturally walked Haniger. Gonzalez made an outstanding play on a France grounder to turn a double play. Seager whiffed to end the inning, good work Adam and Marwin. The Sox failed to do anything in the bottom of the eighth as Vazquez grounded out to short to start. Renfroe struck out swinging and Gonzalez grounded out to short to end the inning. The Sox had done nothing since the second inning.
Matt Barnes came in to close out the top of the ninth and Lewis took strike three to start. White popped up to first and Moore was frozen for strike three to end the game. The Sox had won it 5-3.
Hero of the Night is Eduardo Rodriguez. He went 7 strong innings and allowed just 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 8 batters.
The Good:
Kike Hernandez was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored.
JD Martinez was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Marwin Gonzalez walked twice, scored a run and made several good defensive plays.
Adam Ottavino pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Matt Barnes earned his fourth save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Bobby Dalbec was 0 for 3.
The Ugly:
Rafael Devers was 0 for 2 with a mental error but walked twice and scored a run.
Xander Bogaerts was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Christian Vazquez was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run and scored a run.
Hunter Renfroe was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts but walked and drove in a run.
Christian Arroyo was 0 for 2 but was hit with a pitch to drive in a run.
Final Thoughts:
That was a good win pitching and defensive wise, but this offense is in big trouble. The Sox needed Margevicius to have a meltdown in order to pull off that fist inning rally and they did nothing after that. Still, the positives are Rodriguez shut down the Mariners without his velocity, Ottavino rebounded to throw well and Barnes had a good outing. Marwin Gonzalez stepped up big at short and as a whole, a win is better than a loss. The offensive woes continued as Bogaerts and Martinez are keeping them alive right now. Like mentioned yesterday, Vazquez, Devers and Alex Verdugo are too good to get hot at some point. The Sox are overachieving right now and its good for the fans to have some hope for a good future after the last 2 years of let downs. The good news is the Sox have major flaws but unlike the last two years, they're fixable. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox are back in action Tuesday night in New York against the Mets. Garrett Richards (0-2, 6.48 ERA) looks for his first Sox win against David Peterson of the Mets on Tuesday night at 7:10 PM at Citi Field.
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