Mariners 2, Red Sox 1
SEATTLE -- Rather than avoid pitching to the top hitter in the American League, the Boston Red Sox went right at Seattle's Nelson Cruz on Friday night.
The decision cost them.
Cruz's two-out, RBI single with a runner on second base drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Mariners beat Boston 2-1.
With two outs and a runner on second base, right-handed reliever Junichi Tazawa was brought in to face Cruz. Rather than pitch around him, Tazawa (0-2) gave up a long single into the gap between left and centerfield to score Brad Miller easily from second.
Boston starter Clay Buchholz allowed just three hits over eight innings, with the only run against him coming on a solo home run by Seattle right fielder Seth Smith with two outs in the sixth. Buchholz struck out 11 without issuing a walk but didn't factor into the decision.
Having given up a two-out double in the bottom of the first, Buchholz had retired 15 consecutive batters before Smith finally broke through with a 419-foot solo shot to centerfield in the sixth. The homer, Smith's third of the year, tied the score 1-1.
Mariners starter J.A. Happ matched Buchholz for seven innings, allowing one earned run off five hits.
Seattle's Miller had a one-out, infield single in the ninth to start the Seattle rally. One out later, with first base open, Tazawa came on and challenged Cruz, who delivered with the game-winner after striking out in his previous three at-bats.
The Mariners (16-19) won for the fifth time in six games, while Boston (17-19) had its two-game winning streak snapped.
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead with a two-out, RBI triple in the top of the second inning. With right fielder Shane Victorino on second base, Bogaerts hit a 3-2 pitch off the top of the wall in right center to drive in the first run of the game.
Boston threatened again in the fourth when the Red Sox had runners at the corners with one out, but Seattle starter J.A. Happ escaped that jam when a baserunning gaffe by Victorino led to a 1-3-6-2-5 tag of Mike Napoli between third base and home plate.
Boston starter Clay Buchholz gave up a two-out double in the first inning before retiring 13 consecutive batters through the fifth to preserve the 1-0 lead for the Red Sox. Of the 15 outs Buchholz recorded over the first five innings, only three came on balls hit out of the infield.
NOTES: The game featured the American League's two worst teams in batting average with runners in scoring position. Seattle, having gone 1-for-19 with RISP in back-to-back games, entered Friday's game with a .222 batting average in those situations. ... Seattle started four right-handers against Boston RHP Clay Buchholz on Friday night, and that was by design. Right-handed hitters were hitting .364 against Buchholz heading into the game. ... RHP Felix Hernandez, who is scheduled to start Saturday's game for the Mariners, is off to the best start of his career. He is 6-0 with a 1.85 ERA and could become the first Seattle starter since Aaron Sele in 2001 to go 7-0. ... The Red Sox went into Friday's game with a chance to reach .500 for the first time since May 2.