Red Sox, Mariners looking for big hits

It’s already a tale of two games Boston Red Sox against the Seattle Mariners this week

After being held to a single run in Monday’s series opener, the Red Sox had three home runs and 11 hits on Tuesday in a 9-4 victory to set up the rubber game in Wednesday night’s three-game set in Boston.

THE Red Soxwho were on a four-game losing streak before Tuesday, had previously gone three straight games without a home goal.

Justin Turner, Triston Casas and Jarren Duran all cleared the fences in Tuesday’s game, which started with three runs before registering a first-inning strikeout against Seattle starter Luis Castillo.

“We didn’t hit the ball out of the park the last seven days, but first of all (Alex Verdugo) put pressure on the opposition right away and set the tempo of the game.” Red Sox said manager Alex Cora. “We had some good hitters. Good pitcher.

Verdugo went 2-4 and scored three runs.

Red Sox Right-hander Brayan Bello (2-1, 5.01 ERA) is looking for his third straight win Wednesday after holding the Braves to two runs on six hits in a six-inning start last Wednesday in Atlanta. He threw five scoreless frames before giving up both runs in the sixth

Bello, who has yet to face Seattle in his young career, has five strikeouts and two earned runs in his past two outings.

After giving up eight runs in his first two starts this season (7 1/3 innings), he has bounced back and allowed just five runs in his last three outings (16 innings).

“You build confidence as you go, and as the season goes on, you get more confident and your body gets more relaxed. Your mind, too,” Bello said. “That helps us see good results.”

Despite Tuesday’s loss, Seattle is 10-5 in its last 15 games and 7-2 through a nine-game stretch.

THE Sailors, playing .500 ball at 21-21, looking for more consistency at the plate. He didn’t come in this series

Seattle was held to eight hits on Tuesday after giving up 15 in the series opener.

“The reason we haven’t won a lot of close games is we haven’t hit it big,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “We didn’t score. Hopefully the offensive game will be more consistent.”

Wednesday a Sailors hands the ball to southpaw Marco Gonzales (3-0, 4.42), who pitched six two-run innings in Friday’s win at Detroit.

Gonzales is 1-2 with a 5.26 ERA in his career against Boston. The victory was born in 2019. He last allowed two hits and two runs in 4 1/3 innings on June 10, 2022.

Castillo had a rare night for a Seattle starting pitcher on Tuesday, giving up three homers and seven runs (five earned) in five innings.

Servais is confident that continued hard work on the mound will lead to more wins.

“As long as we keep playing the way we know how, we’re going to be there for a lot of these games,” he said. “I think we’re a better team on paper than we were last year. We haven’t done it yet, but the upside for this group is pretty high.”

— Field Level Media