G3: Mariners 6, Red Sox 5

Red Sox  - 011 000 003 - 5  9  2
Mariners - 200 130 00x - 6 10  3

The Red Sox nearly pulled off another game-winning, ninth-inning rally. They were aided by Mariners rookie third baseman Dylan Moore, who committed an error on three consecutive plays with two outs. And with the potential tying run at third base, Xander Bogaerts was called out on a low 0-2 pitch that appeared to be an obvious ball on TV. However, NESN's strike zone is deceptive because it's actually smaller than the true strike zone. Brooks had the pitch at the very bottom of the strike zone.

This is the first time in Red Sox history that the starting pitcher has allowed six or more runs in each of first three games of a season.

Eduardo Rodriguez (4.1-8-6-3-5, 105) resumed his old ways, throwing 31 pitches in the first inning and 26 in the fourth. The Globe's Alex Speier tweeted that pitching coach Dana LeVangie said Rodriguez didn't stick with his game plan, failing to use his changeup against lefties. LeVangie thought Seattle's right-handed hitters would be sitting on changeups away, so he wanted Rodriguez to attack with his cutter inside, but he didn't do it aggressively enough to open up the plate. LeVangie called it "a little kick in the teeth ... it's a little bit of a wakeup call for all of us".

In the first inning, he allowed a leadoff single and retired the next two hitters before issuing a walk and giving up an RBI-single and an RBI-double. Jay Bruce later tagged him for a three-run homer in the fifth.

The Red Sox quickly tied the game. Mitch Moreland doubled to left-center with one out in the second and scored on Jackie Bradley's first-pitch single to center. In the third, Rafael Devers walked, stole second, and scored on J.D. Martinez's single to left.

Rodriguez settled down for two innings. He was aided by a fantastic running catch by Mookie Betts, who raced to his left and snagged Domingo Santana's line drive with the very tip of his glove and was able to hold on to the ball as he disappeared into the corner. Ryon Healy doubled to right to start the fourth and Rodriguez followed that by issuing a four-pitch walk. Moore grounded into a double play, but Dee Gordon singled to left to give Seattle a 3-2 lead.

Singles by Andrew Benintendi and Devers in the fifth seemed promising, but Martinez lined to center and Bogaerts chased a 2-2 cutter out of the zone.

The Mariners broke the game open in the fifth. Mitch Moreland was charged with an error when he could not hold Bogaerts's high throw on Santana's grounder. Edwin Encarnacion singled and Bruce clubbed a first-pitch homer to right-center, giving Seattle a 6-2 lead. Rodriguez then walked Tim Beckham before getting Healy on a pop to short left. Heath Hembree came in and gave up a single, but struck out Moore to end the inning.

Zac Rosscup faced the bottom third of Boston's lineup in the top of the ninth. Christian Vazquez batted for Blake Swihart and dropped a single into left. Rosscup struck out Bradley and got pinch-hitter Eduardo Nunez to ground out to shortstop.

Benintendi got ahead 3-0 before walking on a full count. Betts grounded to third. Moore bobbled the ball and then rushed his throw to first. It sailed over everyone and into the stands. Vazquez scored, making it 6-3, and the runners advanced to second and third. After Seattle convened a mound visit, Devers ripped a 1-1 pitch directly at Moore. The hot shot knocked him back and the ball trickled off into left field. Another error - Benintendi scored: 6-4.

The Mariners changed pitchers, bringing in Nick Rumbelow to face Martinez. JDM fell behind 0-2 after failing to check his swing and tapping a foul down the third base line. Martinez also grounded to Moore, who had to be muttering to himself by this time. He bobbled the easy grounder and then threw low to first. The ball bounced in front of Healy, and he could not scoop it. Another error! Betts scored. Boston now had Devers at third and Martinez at first, and trailed 6-5. I was hoping that Bogaerts would drop a bunt down the third base line. I figured there was a solid chance that Moore, fearing a fourth error, would not even bother with it. But Bogaerts instead looked at three pitches - all called strikes.

Eduardo Rodriguez / Mike Leake

Benintendi, LF
Betts, RF
Devers, 3B
Martinez, DH
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Swihart, C
Bradley, CF
Holt, 2B

Earlier: Orioles 5, Yankees 3 (B9 rally sputters to a halt, ruining the day for about 42,000 people)