 allowed nine runs, four earned, and six hits in 2 2/3 innings. The 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner struck out three and walked four.Starters Porcello, Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez combined to give up 22 earned runs on 27 hits in the four games against Seattle.Cory Gearrin came on to pitch the ninth for Seattle and walked the bases loaded with one out. Gearrin was then replaced by Chasen Bradford, who walked pinch hitter Blake Swihart to force in a run before retiring Christian Vazquez and Jackie Bradley Jr. to end the game.Bradford is the third pitcher to record a save for the Mariners this season.Narvaez's drive to right put Seattle ahead to stay. Haniger capped the big inning with a two-run double.Mariners starter Wade LeBlanc (1-0) allowed six runs, four earned, and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.J. D. Martinez hit an RBI single in Boston's three-run first, and then belted a three-run drive in the fourth for his second homer this season.TRAINER'S ROOMRed Sox: 2B Dustin Pedroia (left knee) played in an extended spring training game. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Pedroia would play in another on Tuesday before beginning a rehab assignment at Single-A Greenville. ... OF Andrew Benintendi was out of the starting lineup after fouling a ball off his right knee on Saturday. He walked as a pinch hitter in the ninth.Mariners: Closer Hunter Strickland, who was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a right lat strain, will likely be out a couple of months, manager Scott Servais said.UP NEXTRed Sox: LHP David Price will make his first start of the season as Boston opens a four-game series at Oakland on Monday.Mariners: RHP Felix Hernandez opens his season in the first of a two-game series at home against the Angels on Monday. This is the first season since 2008 that Hernandez did not start on opening day for Seattle.)
Surprising Mariners send LeBlanc to face Boston's Porcello The Seattle Mariners might want to reconsider that "step-back" plan.In a season supposedly to be for rebuilding, the Mariners are a surprising 4-1 after taking two of the first three games against the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox. The four-game series concludes Sunday afternoon in Seattle, with Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello scheduled to face Mariners lefty Wade LeBlanc.After blowing a two-run lead in the ninth inning Friday night, the Mariners rebounded Saturday with a 6-5 victory, although they nearly blew a four-run lead in the final inning.Rookie utility infielder Dylan Moore, making his first career start at third base, made three errors in the ninth."One thing led to another, obviously," Moore told MLB.com. "It's one of those things where when it rains, it pours. I have to put it behind me, and tomorrow is a new day. If they hit me the ball, I'm going to get it the next time. It didn't happen, and, obviously, it snowballed." According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Moore is the fifth player in the past 10 years to commit three errors in an inning, the last being Mariners shortstop Jean Segura in the first inning of a 10-1 loss at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 27, 2017.With the Red Sox within a run and two runners on base, right-hander Nick Rumbelow caught Boston's Xander Bogaerts looking at a called third strike to end the game.Rumbelow was used because closer Hunter Strickland, who gave up a three-run homer to pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland on Friday, went on the disabled list with a strained right lat."I will say, for all Mariners fans in the Midwest and East part of the country, stay up late to watch the end of our games," Mariners manager Scott Servais said with a laugh. "You never know what you're going to get." Jay Bruce hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning, his first of the season and 287th of his career, to give the Mariners a 6-2 lead.Bruce was 1-for-15 in the first four regular-season games before his home run."They've been kind of carrying me along for the first couple games, so it felt good to help," Bruce told MLB.com.Seattle has 13 home runs and has scored 38 runs through five games."They're doing a good job offensively. Their game plan or whatever they're doing is really solid," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "They're swinging at certain spots that we usually go and they're putting barrel to it. Sometimes you got to give credit, and they're doing a great job offensively." Porcello (17-7, 4.28 ERA in 2018) will try to put an end to that. He is 6-5 with a 3.80 ERA in 13 career starts against the Mariners.The Mariners will counter with LeBlanc (9-5, 3.72 last season), who is 1-0 with a 5.06 ERA in four career starts versus Boston.--Field Level Media
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