The lack of offense reared its ugly head once again as the Boston Red Sox had just 3 hits in today's get-away game against the Seattle Mariners. The good news was that's all they needed to win this game and the series as Garrett Crochet (7-4, 2.20 ERA) continued his dominating season by holding the Mariners to just 1 run in 6 solid innings. Luis Castillo allowed just 3 hits in his 6 innings but two of them were a solo home run to Marcelo Mayer and a two run home run by Trevor Story. Sox manager Alex Cora had Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock and Arolids Chapman handle the seventh and eighth innings, but shockingly went to Greg Weissert to close the game out. Fortunately Weissert shut the door as the Sox had won 2 of 3 from Seattle and 7 out of 8 overall with a 3-1 victory over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
Castillo got the ball in the top of the first and Jarren Duran struck out swinging to start. Abraham "El" Toro flied out to left but Roman Anthony was hit with a pitch. Romy Gonzalez forced Anthony at second to end the inning. Crochet got the ball in the bottom of the first inning and Dylan Moore took strike three to start. Julio Rodriguez struck out swinging but Cal Raleigh doubled to left. Jorge Polanco flied out to right to end the inning.
The Sox struck first in the top of the second as Marcelo Mayer bashed his fourth home run of the season to put the Sox on top. Trevor Story struck out swinging before David Hamilton flied out to right. Kristian Campbell struck out swinging to end the inning with the Sox up 1-0.
The Mariners answered right back in the bottom of the second as Duran dropped a ball by Randy Arozarena for a "double" to start. Randy moved to third on a fly ball to center by Mitch Garver and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game. Donovan Solano and Ben Williamson stroked back to back base hits, but Miles Mastrobuoni forced Williamson at second. Moore took strike three to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Somehow Connor Wong got a base hit to center to start the top of the third but Duran flied out to left. El Toro forced Wong at second and Anthony grounded out to second to end the inning. Rodriguez grounded out to second to start the bottom of the third before Raleigh grounded out to third. Polanco struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Sox struck again in the top of the fourth as Gonzalez grounded out to first to start. Mayer walked and Story belted his 10th home run of the season to put Boston back on top. Hamilton took strike three and Campbell grounded out to first to end the inning but the Sox were up 3-1.
Arozarena grounded out to third to start the bottom of the fourth but Garver singled to center. Solano struck out swinging and Williamson flied out to left to end the inning.
Wong grounded back to the mound to begin the top of the fifth before Duran lined out to center. El Toro flied out to left to end the inning. Mastrobuoni lined out to second to open the bottom of the fifth but Moore singled to left. Rodriguez forced Moore at second then took second on a wild pitch. Raleigh struck out swinging to end the inning.
Anthony walked to start the top of the sixth but Gonzalez lined out to center. Mayer struck out swinging but Anthony stole second base. Story grounded out to short to end the inning. Crochet returned for the bottom of the sixth and Polanco struck out swinging to start. Arozarena lined out to left and Garver struck out swinging to end the inning. Crochet tossed 6 solid innings of 1 run ball allowing 6 hits while striking out 8 batters.
Crochet gets it done
Carlos Vargas came in to pitch the top of the seventh as Hamilton flied out to left to start. Campbell struck out swinging and Wong flied out to right to end the inning. Garrett "The Lock" Whitlock came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh with Ceddanne Rafaela now in center. Solano struck out swinging before Williamson grounded out to second. Mastrobuoni grounded out to third to end the inning.
Gabe Speier came in to pitch the top of the eighth and Duran lined out to first to start. Toro flied out to right and Anthony grounded out to second to end the inning. Aroldis Chapman came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Moore grounded out to third to start. Rodriguez struck out swinging and Raleigh grounded out to third to end the inning.
Eduard Bazardo came in to pitch the top of the ninth and Gonzalez grounded out to second to start. Mayer flied out to left and Story took strike three to end the inning. The Sox had just 3 hits in the entire game. For whatever reason, Sox manager Alex Cora had Greg Weissert close out the bottom of the ninth and Polanco grounded out to second to start. Arozarena walked and Dominic Canzone pinch hit for Garver. Canzone grounded into a double play to end the game. The Sox had won the game 3-1.
Hero of the Night is Garrett Crochet. He got the win by allowing just 6 hits and a walk while striking out 8 in 6 innings.
The Good:
Marcelo Mayer was 1 for 3 with a walk, a home run and 2 total runs scored.
Connor Wong was 1 for 3.
Garrett Whitlock tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
Aroldis Chapman pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Greg Weissert earned his third save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bad:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with a strikeout.
Abraham Toro was 0 for 4.
Romy Gonzalez was 0 for 4.
David Hamilton was 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
Kristian Campbell was 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts.
The Ugly:
Roman Anthony was 0 for 2 but walked and stole a base.
Trevor Story was just 1 for 4 wit 2 strikeouts but hit a two run homer.
Honorable Mention:
Ceddanne Rafaela played center in the final innings.
Final Thoughts:
The Sox offense has scored 20 runs in their last 8 games and won 7 of them....that's on the pitching. With the exception of Walker Buehler yesterday, the starters have been going 6 innings or longer in every single start. FINALLY Alex Cora got his head out of his ass and let his pitchers throw. Maybe losing Justin Slaten and Brennan Bernardino falling apart woke him up to start using the starters more and bullpen less. Either way, the trio of Whitlock, Chapman and Weissert has been working lately. Crochet has been a true ace this season and it would be a shame to waste that kind of year. The problem is with Rafael Devers traded and three power hitters on the Injured List, things look bleak for the offense. The rookies are barely hitting at all and they can't rely on utility players for too long. Still, keeping runs off the board will win you more games than you'll lose. Hopefully the pitching can hold up until something can be done about the offense. The fact the Sox have turned it around a little bit made them watchable if nothing else. The win improved the Sox to 39-37, 5.5 games behind the Yankees for first place in the AL East. After an off-day tomorrow the Sox travel to San Francisco to play Rafael Devers & the Giants. Hunter Dobbins (4-1, 3.74 ERA) takes on Captain TBD of San Francisco. The game begins at 10:10 PM Eastern time at Oracle Park.
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