M’s rally goes for naught

SEATTLE – Like the question about trees falling in the woods, if a pitcher throws a no-hitter against the 2010 Seattle Mariners, is it really a no-hitter?

For 7 2/3 innings Thursday night at Safeco Field, Boston Red Sox right-hander John Lackey made people ask that question about the light-hitting Mariners.

With four outs remaining to complete the no-hitter, everything changed.

The Mariners got their first hit with two outs in the eighth inning, then worked their at-bats, took advantage of Red Sox misplays in the field and turned a dour offensive performance into a tense game that took 13 innings to decide.

By the end, a loss was still a loss – 8-6 when Boston’s Eric Patterson hit a two-run double off Garrett Olson (0-3) in the top of the 13th.

Patterson’s hit ended a late-game spate of Mariners heroics that began with Josh Bard’s single with two outs in the eighth inning.

That one ended Lackey’s no-hitter, and it became the flash point for the Mariners’ rally in the ninth to tie the score. Lackey got the third out of the eighth to preserve a 6-1 Boston lead.

In the ninth, the Mariners feasted on Red Sox relievers Manny Delcarmen and Jonathan Papelbon to tie the score.

Franklin Gutierrez hit a two-run homer off Delcarmen, who followed that by walking Jose Lopez. Milton Bradley hit what appeared to be a double-play grounder, but Red Sox shortstop Marco Scutaro misplayed it for an error.

The Red Sox brought in Papelbon, and he struck out rookie Justin Smoak for the first out. Casey Kotchman, however, pulled a sharp grounder past first base and into the right-field corner for an RBI double, making the score 6-4.

Papelbon followed that by walking Bard to load the bases, and the Red Sox provided what became a two-run gift.

Jack Wilson dribbled a grounder to shortstop, where Scutaro flipped to second baseman Bill Hall to force out pinch runner Michael Saunders. Bradley scored, and when Hall made his relay to first base attempting to complete a game-ending double play, he threw it well wide of the bag and into foul territory.

The throwing error allowed pinch runner Ryan Langerhans to score, tying the game at 6.

The Mariners traded infielder Jack Hannahan, who’d spent the season at Class AAA Tacoma, to the Red Sox on Thursday in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Hannahan batted .228 with five home runs and 33 RBI in 63 games with the Rainiers.

Red Sox 8, Mariners 6 (13)