M’s raise the bar

BOSTON – Michael Saunders could laugh about it afterward. How he’d sprinted to the deepest part of Fenway Park to haul in a blast some 420 feet from home plate with the game on the line and a steel bar just steps away from denting his rib cage.

Saunders hadn’t done much on offense in what became a 5-4 win for the Mariners on Friday night, but catching this blast to right-center off the bat of Red Sox hitter Jed Lowrie in the ninth inning quickly became his only mission that mattered in a tight ballgame.

But Saunders made the catch, a few feet from the imposing, chest-high bar that separates the outfield from the visitor’s bullpen.

The Mariners are 8-4 in a dozen games since manager Eric Wedge read them the riot act after a defeat to the Royals in Kansas City, Mo. There have been some sputters, but the pitching has remained strong while the offense finally woke up on this road trip.

“He knows how to get the best from each player in the clubhouse,” Saunders said. “That’s a skill that a lot of managers need.”

And something the Mariners needed here, coming from 4-2 down to take the lead in the seventh on a double by Jack Cust. The struggling Cust, hitting just .177 coming in, unloaded off Boston relief pitcher Bobby Jenks to help deliver a long-awaited win for Jason Vargas.

There had been nine straight losses and 13 long starts since the prior Vargas win last August.

But the left-hander, in his Fenway debut, got his team through seven. Jamey Wright worked a scoreless eighth and Brandon League survived the Lowrie shot, which brought 37,845 fans to their feet, in the ninth for the save.

Vargas had given up two early home runs to former Mariners outfielder Mike Cameron. The first was one of those fluke, 300-foot fly balls off the end of the bat that wrapped around famed Pesky’s Pole in a short right field to halve a 2-0 lead for the visitors.

Justin Smoak had opened the scoring in the first with a two-run single off Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, who had tossed 15 scoreless innings his previous two starts.

“I thought our guys battled the way you like to see them battle,” Wedge said.

Mariners 5, Red Sox 4

Seattle	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
I.Suzuki rf	4	2	2	0	1	0	.319
Figgins 3b	4	2	2	0	1	0	.204
Bradley lf	5	0	0	0	0	2	.193
Olivo c	5	1	1	1	0	2	.228
Smoak 1b	4	0	1	2	1	1	.300
Cust dh	2	0	1	1	2	1	.185
A.Kennedy 2b	3	0	0	0	1	0	.279
Ja.Wilson 2b	0	0	0	0	0	0	.246
M.Saunders cf	2	0	0	0	2	1	.224
Ryan ss	3	0	0	0	0	0	.192
Totals	32	5	7	4	8	7

Boston	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Ellsbury cf	4	1	1	0	0	1	.264
Pedroia 2b	4	0	0	0	0	0	.266
Ad.Gonzalez 1b	4	1	2	0	0	0	.314
Youkilis 3b	3	0	1	1	1	2	.213
Ortiz dh	4	0	1	1	0	0	.280
Lowrie ss	4	0	0	0	0	0	.375
Cameron rf	4	2	2	2	0	0	.185
Varitek c	3	0	1	0	0	1	.111
J.Drew ph	1	0	0	0	0	1	.270
D.McDonald lf	2	0	0	0	1	1	.118
Totals	33	4	8	4	2	6

Seattle	200	010	200 – 5	7	0
Boston	012	100	000 – 4	8	2

E – D.McDonald (1), Albers (1). LOB – Seattle 9, Boston 4. 2B – Figgins (5), Cust (3). HR – Cameron 2 (2). RBIs – Olivo (8), Smoak 2 (17), Cust (9), Youkilis (15), Ortiz (11), Cameron 2 (4). SB – M.Saunders (2). S – Ryan. RLISP – Seattle 6, Boston 1. RMU – Olivo. GIDP – Figgins, Pedroia. DP – Seattle 2, Boston 1.

Seattle	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Vargas W, 1-2	7	8	4	4	2	4	5.45
J.Wright H, 7	1	0	0	0	0	1	0.73
League S, 6-6	1	0	0	0	0	1	2.70

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Matsuzaka	4	3	3	1	4	4	3.81
Albers	2	1	0	0	1	1	1.50
Jenks L, 1-2	1	3	2	2	1	1	8.64
Okajima	1	0	0	0	2	0	13.50
Bard	1	0	0	0	0	1	3.65

IR-S – Albers 1-1. T – 3:07. A – 37,845 (37,493).