In order to keep up with the pace of the race for one of the two places on the American League Wild League card, the Red Sox took full advantage of their extra supplement opportunities in the tenth inning of the final of the American League series. Wednesday against the Mariners.
Alex Verdugo stood out for advancing Jack Lopez – who was the automatic runner from second base to start the tenth inning – to third base. Moments later, Lopez came in to score the first step with a pass ball, causing a six-run inning for the Red Sox when they beat the Mariners 9-4 at T-Mobile Park.
The win brought the Red Sox record to 83-65 and kept them tied with the Blue Jays and Yankees in the AL Wild Card standings after Toronto beat Tampa Bay and New York defeated Baltimore.
“It’s playoff basketball,” said Red Cox manager Alex Cora. “It simply came to our notice then. And it’s fun, to be honest with you. When you give it your all and at the end of the game you are exhausted for the right reasons. … You have to give [this club] credit. They went on this road trip knowing that it would be difficult ”.
Boston stayed just three walks and one between the third and ninth innings after securing a 3-0 third-inning lead. But after Mariners catcher Tom Murphy’s defensive error that allowed Lopez to score 10th, the Red Sox received RBI hits from JD Martinez, Kyle Schwarber and Christian Vazquez.
“It started with Dugie in another sense,” Cora said. “… Kyle had patience, JD put the ball into play. There were a lot of good things. ”
While the Red Sox bats remained silent until the end of Wednesday’s series finale, their pitching staff kept the Mariners on a run in the final seven innings. They limited Seattle to three hits, an intentional walk and a throwing hit during that span.
The lone marker was found when JP Crawford fell to the ground, allowing Jarred Kelenic to score from third after Kelenic started the bottom of the 10th inning as an automatic runner at second base.
“I’ve applauded our bullpen all year,” said Red Sox starter Tanner Houck, who allowed three runs and made seven in four 1/3 innings. “It simply came to our notice then. They have played an amazing role. They are an important part of this team and have stepped up every time we asked them to, and every time I give them the ball, I have everything [the] trust them “.
The win ended with a 3-3 trip for the Red Sox that included going 2-1 against the Mariners and 1-2 against the White Sox. During the road trip, Boston won 1-3 in single-run ball games, and its bullpen allowed just two runs won in its last 26 2/3 innings during that period.
“I like this road trip [we’ve been] put some heavy innings out of the pen and just try to do our job and keep the games close, let’s give it a try, ”said Adam Ottavino, who threw 1 1/3 innings with no score, getting the win on Wednesday . ”The Seattle show talked about how they had the bullpen advantage in this series and I think at least I did, I took it personally. [I’m] glad we were able to differentiate the last two nights “.
With 14 games left in the season, the Red Sox return to Boston on Friday to open an eight-game home run that begins with three games against Baltimore.
Upon entering Wednesday, the Red Sox had the easiest remaining schedule of any team in the Major according to the opponents ’winning percentage (.424).
Cora said the .500 Series win and victory in Seattle put Boston in a good position to get a place in the playoffs, which he said not many predicted toward the final weeks of the season.
“So happy he wants, we’ll be back tomorrow and, as I said before, there aren’t too many people who thought the last home of the season would mean anything,” Cora said. “It simply came to our notice then. I hope it’s fun on Friday and the rest of the week and we take care of the business. “