Surging M’s finish off Red Sox

SEATTLE – Jose Lopez was watching unpredictable Manny Ramirez – just like many curious people do at a Red Sox game.

Lopez noticed that Ramirez was positioned close to the left-field line in the bottom of the 11th, creating a large gap in left-center. Lopez pulled Joel Pineiro’s pitch into the gap for a double, scoring Ichiro Suzuki and helping the surging Mariners beat Boston 2-1 on Wednesday.

Ichiro drew a one-out walk off Pineiro (1-1), the former Mariners starter. Lopez then hit a 1-0 pitch that eluded a leaping, twisting Ramirez, the ball caroming past center fielder Coco Crisp and allowing Ichiro to score easily.

“I’m not going to make excuses. I hung a pitch,” Pineiro said, before adding the ankle he twisted stepping on teammate Eric Hinske’s heel during pregame stretching Monday still hurts.

The Mariners roughed up Lopez near second base after the game-winning hit, banging on him in celebration as if he’d done something wrong – instead of sending Seattle to its fifth consecutive win.

“My back hurts a little bit. I got a headache, too,” Lopez said, smiling.

Jason Davis (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings for Seattle, which tied its season-best record of nine games better than .500.

Boston was swept in a series of at least three games for the first time this season despite another strong start from Daisuke Matsuzaka, who allowed one run and three hits in eight innings.

Did Ramirez think he might catch Lopez’s soaring drive, which hung up for a while in the late-afternoon haze?

“I had no idea, man,” Ramirez said.

Sort of summed up Boston’s recent stays in Seattle.

The team with baseball’s best record lost for the eighth consecutive time at Safeco Field. After allowing 17 runs in two losses, the Red Sox couldn’t win when Matsuzaka walked one and struck out eight, including Jamie Burke with a runner on second to end the eighth. Matsuzaka has allowed six runs in five starts this month.

David Ortiz went 0 for 5 and left seven men on base. He just missed a home run with two on in the third against rookie Ryan Feierabend. Ortiz then popped out meekly to end the inning. Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis also just missed home runs against Feierabend, each flying out to the warning track in the second.

In the fifth, Ortiz came up with the bases loaded and two out. Ortiz thought he had a game-tying RBI walk on a 3-1 pitch off the outside edge that umpire Brian Knight called a strike, then grounded out to end the inning – the only groundout Feierabend got.

Ortiz walked slowly and almost mockingly across the infield, past Knight and back to the dugout without looking at him. The usually clutch slugger then paced the bench area before slamming his helmet into the corner of the dugout.

Deposed leadoff batter Julio Lugo extended his hitless streak to 31 at-bats before Alex Cora pinch-hit for him with a man on and one out in the 11th. Cora hit into a double play.

“Seems like we’ve played more than our share of this type of games here and ended up not feeling good,” Boston manager Terry Francona said.

Ramirez often gets criticized for his defense, but he had a long run just to get near Lopez’s drive.

“Manny’s such a good hitter that people overlook what he does in the field,” said Mike Hargrove, Ramirez’s former manager in Cleveland.

“I’m not sure there’s another left fielder – outside of somebody who can just fly – that gets that ball.”

Boston tied it in the seventh off Sean Green. Pinch-hitter J.D. Drew singled leading off, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Lugo and accompanying throwing error by Green. Drew scored an unearned run on Crisp’s deep fly ball on which Ichiro made a running, basket catch on the warning track in right-center field.

Matsuzaka retired eight straight to begin the game before Burke hit a sinking line drive that eluded Crisp’s dive for a double in the third. Ichiro then fought off a first pitch that was high off the inside corner and lined it softly into center field to score Burke.

It was Ichiro’s first hit in seven at-bats this season against his fellow star from Japan.

“Given Ichiro’s great batting skill, I have no regrets about the pitch. And it is really a testament to his hitting skill that he hit the ball,” Matsuzaka said.

Matsuzaka struck out Ichiro in two other at-bats.

Feierabend gave up five hits and two walks in five innings, after allowing nine runs in 2 2/3 innings against Cincinnati in his previous start.

Lowe could make return in July

Nearly nine months after surgery on an elbow condition that could have ended his career, Mark Lowe pitched to hitters again, the Everett Herald reported.

Lowe threw a 15-pitch simulated game and pronounced himself ready and eager to take the next step. That will be another simulated game Saturday, and then a week’s worth of minor-league rehab appearances, probably with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.

He could be ready to rejoin the Mariners in early July, before the All-Star break.

Lowe, who dominated hitters with his 97 mph fastball in a late-inning relief role last year, threw 88-89 on Wednesday.

Everyone was satisfied with that.

“I’ve still got a lot more in there, but there’s no reason to right now,” he said. “I’ve taken this long to get healthy, so there’s no reason to rush it.”

Notes

M’s rookie Brandon Morrow struck out Lugo with a 95 mph fastball to strand Youkilis at second base to end the eighth. … Ichiro had 11 putouts in center field, one short of the major league record.