SEATTLE – Michael Saunders lined a two-run single off Boston reliever Hideki Okajima in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Seattle the lead, Milton Bradley’s squeeze bunt added another run, and the Mariners rallied for a 4-2 win over the Red Sox on Sunday.
The Mariners’ unlikely rally salvaged a split of the four-game series and sent Boston into the final stage of its 10-game West Coast trip now eight games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East.
It was the second straight day Saunders came up with a game-changing hit. A night earlier, Saunders broke up Jon Lester’s no-hit bid with a two-run homer in the sixth inning of Seattle’s 5-1 victory.