G110: Red Sox 4, Mariners 3

Dice for seven and then Dimmer and Snuffer to nail it down. From a distance, that's how it looked, but upon closer inspection, it wasn't quite as smooth as it should have been.

Matsuzaka (7-6-2-2-10) allowed two solo home runs (while getting out of serious jams in the third and fourth innings) and left with a 4-2 lead. Gagne retired the first two Mariners in the eighth, but then allowed singles to Broussard (who stole second) and Lopez to bring Seattle to within one run. A double from Lopez put runners at second and third, but Betancourt tapped back to the mound.

Papelbon struck out Ichiro and Vidro to start the bottom of the ninth, but both walked Guillen (who was trying to avoid being the first Mariner in history to strike out five times in one game) and Ibanez. None of the pitches were all that wild; in fact, a few balls looked like they could/should have been strikes. But with the winning run at first, Beltre swung at the first pitch and fouled out to Varitek.

So Gagne and Bot faced 11 batters in two innings -- three hits, two walks, one run -- not textbook, but it's a win. Still 7 GA.

(23 strikeouts in the game, 13 by the Sox staff.)

***

Daisuke Matsuzaka (3.75, 120 ERA+) / Jarrod Washburn (4.11, 103 ERA+)

The Red Sox have lost their last nine games at Safeco Field. Their last win came on July 21, 2006. Coco Crisp vs Washburn: 10-for-18 (.556), five doubles, four RBI.

Afternoon finals:
Yankees 16, Royals 8
Toronto 9, Texas 5