Red Sox at Mariners
Chris Sale spent the bulk of his career serving as the stopper for a team in the Chicago White Sox which never made the postseason during his seven-year stay in the "Windy City." The Boston Red Sox hope he can play the same role for them as they try to remain atop the American League East on Wednesday and attempt to avoid a fifth straight defeat overall and three-game sweep in Seattle against the Mariners.
The Red Sox were one strike away from victory Tuesday, but Seattle scored on a wild pitch to tie it up in the 13th before Jean Segura delivered a walk-off single moments later to send Boston to a 6-5 defeat in a game that lasted just shy of five hours. Sale, who leads the majors with 200 strikeouts and is holding opponents to a .157 average in day games, has fanned at least nine batters in all but three of his 20 starts and could dominate even more than usual given the quick turnaround. While the Red Sox watched their lead in the East drop to one game over the New York Yankees, the Mariners (51-51) reached .500 with their third win in four tries and trail Kansas City by only 2 1/2 games for the final wild-card spot in the AL. Mike Zunino homered for the second time in three games and appears to be breaking out of his slump this month (batting .182 in July after Tuesday's 1-for-4 effort) following his torrid June (.304, 10 homers, 33 RBIs).
TV: 3:40 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), ROOT Northwest (Seattle)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Chris Sale (12-4, 2.48 ERA) vs. Mariners RH Andrew Moore (1-2, 5.70)
Sale worked his third scoreless outing in four trips to the mound this month Friday in Los Angeles, holding the Angels to four hits while fanning nine across six innings. As a result, the six-time All-Star joined Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez as the only pitchers to reach 200 strikeouts in 20 or fewer turns. Nelson Cruz is 8-for-23 with two homers versus Sale, who is 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA in nine appearances (seven starts) against the Mariners.
Moore remained winless over his last four outings following Friday's loss to the Yankees, giving up five runs on nine hits in six frames, one start after giving up five runs across three innings to the White Sox. The 23-year-old rookie has struggled to keep the ball in the park in his first five big-league turns, surrendering nine home runs in 30 innings. Moore, who has made four of his five career starts at home (1-2, 4.67 ERA), will face Boston for the first time.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Red Sox acquired SS/3B Eduardo Nunez from San Francisco late Tuesday in exchange for minor-league RHPs Shaun Anderson and Gregory Santos. Nunez is expected to make his Boston debut on Friday.
2. Seattle is hopeful CF Jarrod Dyson (hyperextended toe) will be available in the finale after missing each of the last three games.
3. Boston 20-year-old 3B Rafael Devers went 0-for-4 with two walks in his big-league debut Tuesday.