Josh Beckett came off the DL and took the mound for the Sox on Saturday night. Beckett has typically pitched well against the Mariners and we hoped for the same last night.
All in all, Beckett wasn’t spectacular, but he did pretty well especially for his first outing back from the DL. In fact, Beckett didn’t give up a hit until the 5th inning when he gave up a single to Olivo. Additionally, Beckett got a little bit of help in the 3rd inning when Cody Ross made a fantastic catch to rob Ichiro of extra bases. Beckett only found trouble in the 6th inning when Beckett gave up a single and walk. Then Seager hit a ball that looked like it might fall foul and then ended up landing fair right in between Aviles and Nava. Beckett gave up an RBI double to Jaso to score 2 runs for the Mariners. Sox 0-2. That was it for Beckett for the night. His pitching line WAS 85 pitches, 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 Ks.
The Red Sox would rally in the top of the 7th inning and give those 2 runs right back to Beckett. The Sox had the bases loaded with no outs by getting three singles from Gonzo, Middlebrooks and Ross. Kalish got an RBI groundout to score the first run and the Middlebrooks scored on a passed ball to tie the game. Unfortunately, the Sox weren’t able to get the go ahead run in and the game remained tied.
The rest of the Sox bullpen for the most part did their job. Mark Melancon gave up 2 singles and got 2 outs in the inning in the 7th and then he was pulled in favor of Andrew Miller. Miller got a K to end the 7th and then got 2 outs in the 8th inning. Vicente Padilla came out and finished the 8th inning. Padilla took the mound in the 9th inning, but was replaced by Alfredo Aceves when he gave up a walk to Kawasaki. Aceves got a double play to get out of the inning and we were on to extra innings. The Sox bats had a great chance to score the go ahead run in the 10th when they had 2 men on and no outs, however they were not able to get the run home. Aceves pitched another scoreless inning in the bottom of the 10th and then was back on for the 11th. Aceves gave up 2 singles and had a runner at third base with only one out. Figgins flied out to shallow right field and Cody Ross made a throw to the plate that would have had Ackley out, but Salty didn’t handle the throw.
Red Sox lose in extras. The Sox are 0-5 this year in extra innings. And it would be easy to blame this loss on Salty since we would still be playing if he made that throw, however the Sox also were 1 for 12 with RISP and left 10 men on base during the game. It’s hard to win when you have stats like that.
Red Sox 2 Mariners 3 BOXSCORE
WP: Kelley (2-2) LP: Aceves (0-5)
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