Red Sox at Mariners
No team has played nearly as many one-run games as the Seattle Mariners have this season, and they have established time and again they are comfortable in tight spots. After notching consecutive one-run victories in the showdown between two of the American League's best teams, the Mariners eye their 23rd win in 29 outings Sunday, when they host the finale of their four-game series with the Boston Red Sox.
Wade LeBlanc worked 7 2/3 scoreless innings - retiring 22 batters in a row after allowing a single to begin the game - and Seattle got all the offense it needed when Nelson Cruz hit the last of three singles in the third inning to drive in the only run in Saturday's 1-0 triumph. In addition to remaining one-half game behind red-hot Houston in the AL West, the Mariners improved to 23-10 in one-run affairs. Boston began its 10-game road trip earlier this week with a three-game sweep of Baltimore before handing Seattle a taste of its own medicine with a one-run victory on Thursday, but back-to-back defeats have caused it to fall one game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East. Outside of a six-run third inning in Friday's 7-6 setback, the Red Sox's offense has been virtually nonexistent at Safeco Field, scoring a total of two runs - including none over the last 15 innings.
TV: 4:10 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), ROOT Northwest (Seattle)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox LH Eduardo Rodriguez (8-1, 3.64 ERA) vs. Mariners RH Mike Leake (7-3, 4.26)
Rodriguez has yielded fewer than three runs while winning each of his last five turns but managed to produce only one quality start over that time as a result of going over the 100-pitch mark each time. Such was the case again for the 25-year-old Venezuelan in Tuesday's victory at Baltimore, where he permitted two runs on eight hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. Jean Segura is 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles against Rodriguez, who is 1-1 with a 2.55 ERA in three career starts versus Seattle.
Leake has registered five consecutive quality starts and won for the third time during that stretch Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels, giving up only a solo homer among the four hits he allowed in six frames. After going 3-2 with a 6.48 ERA in April, the Arizona State product is 4-1 with a 2.87 mark in eight trips to the mound since. Xander Bogaerts is 4-for-9 versus Leake, who gave up 10 runs in two starts versus Boston last season and is 0-2 with a 6.56 ERA in four career outings against the Red Sox.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Mariners' 33 one-run games are five more than another team has played, while their 23 victories in such contests are seven more than second-place Milwaukee.
2. Regardless of Sunday's outcome, Boston will leave Safeco Field without a series win in its last five trips to the venue.
3. Seattle (46-25) is 21 games over .500 for the first time since the final game of the 2003 season.