Mariners vs. Red Sox Preview
BOSTON (AP) – Reigning AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez started for the Seattle Mariners on July 5 – the last time the team won a game.
Twelve losses later, the Mariners hope Hernandez’s success against the Boston Red Sox can help them avoid moving to within one defeat of tying the franchise record.
Seattle opens a three-game set Friday night against surging Boston, winner of six straight at Fenway Park.
According to MLB odds and oddsmakers from online sports book Bodog have made the Red Sox -130 money line favorites for Friday’s game against the Mariners. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 69% of more than 129 bets for this game have been placed on the Red Sox -130.
The Mariners (43-55) rallied from a 5-1 deficit to tie Toronto on Thursday, but allowed two runs in the bottom of the eighth and fell 7-5. Seattle hasn’t lost 13 in a row since setting the team record with 14 straight losses from Sept. 2-18, 1992.
“A lot of these guys are getting eaten up right now,” manager Eric Wedge said. “We can’t give in, we can’t keep pouting about it and we damn sure can’t quit. You’ve got to just keep going, and you’ve got to be tough enough when you’re doing that.”
Toughening up was the theme of Wedge’s postgame blasting of his team in the clubhouse.
“We need to step up a little more,” said catcher Miguel Olivo, whose grand slam in the seventh tied the game. “Everything he said is true.”
Friday should present a good opportunity for the Mariners to end their skid, given Hernandez’s history versus Boston.
The ace right-hander is 4-1 with a 2.87 ERA in nine career starts against the Red Sox. Hernandez (8-8, 3.26 ERA) has fared well at Fenway, going 3-0 with a 1.49 ERA in five starts – the most recent of which came May 1, when he allowed two runs in seven innings and didn’t get the decision in a 3-2 loss.
However, he’s coming off a 5-1 defeat to Texas on Saturday in which he allowed four runs in 7 2-3 innings.
The Mariners took two of three at Fenway from April 29-May 1, beating John Lackey (7-8, 6.70) by a 2-0 score April 30. Lackey allowed both runs in six innings.
That was his latest solid outing versus Seattle, as the right-hander has gone 8-2 with a 2.01 ERA with three shutouts in his last 11 starts versus the Mariners.
Lackey’s recent inconsistency continued in his last start, though, as he allowed four runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 9-5 win over Tampa Bay on Saturday. He pitched 6 2-3 innings and allowing three hits to beat Baltimore 4-0 on July 9 in his previous outing.
Lackey was knocked out in the third inning of a 9-7 loss to Toronto on July 4 – which followed 7 2-3 innings of two-run ball in a 2-1 defeat over Philadelphia on June 29.
“We would love for him to get hot,” manager Terry Francona said. “That would be one of the best things that ever happened to us.”
Jacoby Ellsbury has certainly been on a hot streak for the Red Sox (59-37), winners of 14 of 17 and owners of the best record in the AL.
Ellsbury homered twice while Andrew Miller and three relievers two-hit the Orioles in 4-0 victory Wednesday.
“He kind of put us on his shoulders,” Francona said of Ellsbury. “He does that from time to time.”
He’s been doing it more often lately. The center fielder is hitting .408 with six homers and 15 RBIs over his last 16 games.
Adrian Gonzalez went 4 for 5 to raise his average to a league-high .343. He’s 9 for 30 with two doubles and a homer versus Hernandez.
Seattle has won three of the last four meetings at Fenway.
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