Red Sox use M’s to get back on track
Boston’s road woes haven’t applied in Seattle
Boston’s Coco Crisp lays down a sacrifice bunt. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
SEATTLE – Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka continued his masterful pitching away from Fenway Park, and J.D. Drew’s first inning homer helped the Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Tuesday night.
After dropping five straight on the road, the Red Sox seem to have found a remedy against the lowly Mariners, who fell a season-worst 24 games under .500 with their fourth-straight loss.
Matsuzaka only made Seattle’s anemic offense look even more hapless.
Dice-K (11-1) held Seattle to just five hits and shut out Seattle into the eighth, improving to 5-0 with a 2.20 ERA in eight starts away from home.
Matsuzaka saw his scoreless innings streak end at 24 1/3 when countryman Ichiro Suzuki lined an RBI double over center fielder Coco Crisp with one out in the bottom of the eighth. It was the first run allowed by Matsuzaka since the first inning against Tampa Bay on July 2 when Evan Longoria hit a two-out RBI single. Matsuzaka had not allowed an earned run in his previous two starts.
Jose Lopez followed with an RBI single to score Suzuki and knock out Matsuzaka, who walked three and struck out six. Hideki Okajima got the final two outs of the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 30th save in 34 chances.
With the way he’s been pitching, Matsuzaka probably felt quite comfortable walking to the mound in the bottom of the first already with a 1-0 lead. Drew provided that advantage, hitting his 18th homer of the season in the top of the first on a 3-2 pitch from Seattle starter R.A. Dickey.
Boston added three more in the fifth, started by Jacoby Ellsbury’s bunt single and Dustin Pedroia’s ringing liner that left a plume of chalk as it landed on the left-field foul line. It was Pedroia’s 23rd straight road game with a hit, and he has a hit in 24 of his last 25 overall games. Drew and rookie Jed Lowrie added sacrifice flies around Mike Lowell’s RBI double.
Notes
Injured Mariners LHP Erik Bedard got an MRI on his left shoulder Tuesday in hopes of discovering the cause of the nagging tightness and soreness he has been experiencing. … Seattle rookie C Jeff Clement left the game in the third inning after a foul ball clipped his right hand and ripped the finger nail off his thumb. He was replaced by Kenji Johjima. … Suzuki went 1 for 2 and is six hits shy of 3,000 combined hits in his professional baseball career in Japan and with the Mariners. … Tuesday was Boston’s 200th win all-time against the Mariners (200-147).