Red Sox - 000 000 001 - 1 7 0 Mariners - 010 001 10x - 3 4 0Andrew Benintendi collected his first two major league hits, but Hisashi Iwakuma (7.1-5-0-0-7, 97) and two relievers put the Boston bats into a deep sleep on Wednesday night. Boston fell 3 GB the Orioles in the AL East.
Rick Porcello (8-4-3-1-8, 112) allowed three solo home runs: Nelson Cruz obliterated a pitch to left in the second, Mike Zunino went deep to center in the sixth, and Adam Lind cranked one to right in the seventh. Seattle's other three base runners were Kyle Seager's second inning walk, Norichika Aoki's HBP in the sixth, and Zunino's single in the eighth.
In the late innings, the Red Sox had the chance to get back in the game. Benintendi's one-out single in the eighth ended Iwakuma's night and Drew Storen took over. Mookie Betts singled, bringing the potential tying run to the plate. But Brock Holt popped to shortstop and Xander Bogaerts flied to deep left.
Facing Edwin Diaz in the ninth, Jackie Bradley singled with one out. Aaron Hill was plunked and, with Travis Shaw batting, both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Shaw was ahead in the count 3-0, but then looked at a strike and grounded out to second, with Bradley scoring and Hill taking third. Sandy Leon also got ahead 3-0, but just like Shaw, he took a strike and grounded to second, ending the game.
Benintendi's first hit came with one out in the third, when he sliced an off-speed pitch to the opposite (left) field. He struck out in the fifth.
Betts, RFMookie Betts was named AL Player of the Month for July. In 23 games, Betts batted .368 with 15 runs scored, 10 doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI, and five stolen bases. Among American League in July, Betts was first in doubles and extra-base hits (16), second in hits and batting average, third in stolen bases and slugging percentage (.653), and fifth in on-base percentage (.415). ESPNs Mark Simon writes that in addition to Betts's superlative hitting, Mookie was also the majors' defensive player of the month as well, with 11 defensive runs saved.
Holt, 2B
Bogaerts, SS
Ortiz, DH
Bradley, CF
Hill, 3B
Shaw, 1B
Leon, C
Benintendi, LF
Scott Lauber, ESPN:
ReplyDelete"Hanley Ramirez doesn't have any structural damage to his left wrist after the fall on dugout stairs last night. He got an X-ray and an MRI, the results of which were reviewed today by a hand specialist in Boston. Ramirez is sore and will miss at least a couple of games, but manager John Farrell says he isn't a candidate yet for the disabled list."