SEATTLE – Perhaps it’s the absence of Rafael Devers, who’s tormented the Mariners since the first day in the Majors, when he made his debut at T-Mobile Park with the 2017 Red Sox.
Or perhaps it’s that, as feared throughout the offseason when the Sox let Justin Turner and Adam Duvall depart in free agency, there’s simply not enough power in this lineup.
Whatever it was, the Red Sox and Mariners needed 10 innings to complete Saturday evening’s contest, a pitcher’s duel that culminated in a 4-3 Seattle walk-off.
The Red Sox rotation has begun the season on historically strong footing. According to the club’s media relations department, the pitching staff’s 23 strikeouts over the first two games is their most ever over such span, surpassing their previous record of 22, first achieved in 1966 and repeated in 2003. This is also the first time the Sox have struck out at least 20 batters while issuing no more than three walks in their first two games.
Kutter Crawford only improved upon this in his season debut on Saturday night. After getting off to a shaky start, giving up leadoff singles to J.P. Crawford and Ty France in the first and second, respectively, the right-hander settled in for six innings. He set the Mariners down 1-2-3 in the third, fourth, and fifth frames. After the single to France, he retired the following 14 batters before issuing a two-out walk, the first free pass by a Sox starter this season.
The only blemish came early in the first, when Crawford singled to lead off the bottom of the first, and Pablo Reyes’ throwing error allowed the Mariners shortstop to advance to second. When Mitch Haniger singled two batters later, Crawford scored. The run was unearned, but still came back to bite the Sox when they went to extra innings tied 1-1 a couple of hours later.
Crawford lived up to the K in his first name, striking out seven batters over six innings. Never before has the Red Sox pitching staff combined for at least 30 strikeouts while allowing no more than six runs in their first three games of a season. It’s a far cry from the first three games of last season, and most of the year, when too-short starts absolutely exhausted the bullpen.
“It’s been great,” Cora lauded of the strike-throwing thus far. “We’ve been doing this for a while now, and I know it’s not, it’s too early, it’s only three games, but we’ve been feeling pretty comfortable in the way they’re approaching the games, the way they’re throwing the ball.”
Unfortunately, there’s significantly less power in the Boston bats than there was last year. Turner and Duvall combined for 44 home runs, but the team’s combined 182 homers ranked fifth-worst in the American League, well below AL-average (195).
Much like Friday night, when Nick Pivetta and George Kirby dueled, Crawford had a veritable opponent in Mariners starter Logan Gilbert, who punched out eight Boston batters over seven. When the Sox did make hard contact, the ball died on the warning track. When Ceddanne Rafaela doubled to lead off the top of the fifth, he owned both of Boston’s hits in the game to that point.
Entering the ninth, Boston and Seattle were tied 1-1 with four hits and a walk each. The Sox struck out swinging three times in the top of the frame, wasting a one-out walk by Triston Casas, and Greg Weissert faced four Mariners in the bottom of the frame, adding two strikeouts to the tally and sending the game into extras.
“That was fun to watch,” Cora said of Weissert’s outing. “Marty did an outstanding job, too,” he lauded of Chris Martin, who made his 22nd consecutive scoreless appearance for the club. Only Joe Kelly (23), Daniel Bard (25), Josh Taylor (26), and Koji Uehara (27) had longer streaks.
At long last, the Boston bats came alive in the top of the tenth. With Rafaela as the ghost-runner on second, Reyes made up for his first-inning error by singling to score the go-ahead run. He was caught stealing moments later, but Reese McGuire kept the inning alive with a pinch-hit double. After an intentional walk to Tyler O’Neill, who was pinch-hitting for Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida’s single plated an additional run.
That extra bit of insurance proved to be nothing more than a hurdle waiting to be cleared, as Joely Rodríguez took the mound for the bottom of the tenth and immediately gave up an RBI single to put the Mariners within one. A single and fielding error by Wilyer Abreu moved the runners to second and third, and J.P. Crawford’s fielder’s choice tied the game.
With the game re-tied, Alex Cora sent Justin Slaten in to make his Major League debut against Julio Rodríguez. The Mariners wunderkind promptly singled to right, driving in the winning run.
“I mean, (it’s) Julio Rodriguez,” Cora said with a smile. “(Slaten) threw a good pitch, and his first big-league appearance, you know, so I told him, you’re a big-leaguer.”
Kenley Jansen wasn’t available, the Sox skipper explained postgame, as his back was tight. He also decided not to use Devers as a pinch-hitter, but was optimistic that the third baseman would be available for Sunday’s series finale.
“I tried to get ready,” Jansen explained. “I gotta be smart. I go out there and aggravate it, then it could be worse for a week or two, so I’d rather lose one day or two.”
It’s the “same thing” the veteran closer dealt with during spring training, but he said it’s not as bad.
“It’s frustrating,” Jansen admitted. “What can I do? You go to bed, you wake up in the morning and have a bad back. You try to ramp it up, and it’s not allowing you to.”
The Boston bats collected seven hits and three walks, but went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
“They were the best pitching staff last year,” Cora said of their opponents. “They have some horses over there. We kept grinding with them.”
“We will hit,” he added. “Of course, we’re facing one of the best pitching staffs in the big leagues, but they have struggled against us, and they’re supposed to score runs, too.”
Ultimately, the Mariners scored enough.