SEATTLE — In the ugliest way imaginable, the Red Sox saw their losing streak stretch to four straight Tuesday with a hideous 6-5 loss in 13 innings to the Seattle Mariners.
A wild pitch by Doug Fister allowed Ben Gamel to score from third as Guillermo Heredia went from first-to-third. After a walk to Mike Zunino, Jean Segura won it with a single behind the second-base bag.
Sandy Leon appeared to have won the game in the top of the 13th when punched a soft single into shallow left field, scoring Hanley Ramirez from second base. But Fister, the sixth Red Sox pitcher of the night, couldn't hold the one-run lead and picked up his fifth loss without a win since joining the Sox.
The Sox had taken a 4-3 lead in the sixth on a two-run double by Dustin Pedroia and a run-scoring single by Jackie Bradley Jr. It represented the first lead the Red Sox have had since the sixth inning Sunday in Anaheim.
But reliever Heath Hembree yielded a game-tying homer to Mike Zunino in the bottom of the seventh.
Starter Drew Pomeranz was also touched by the long ball, giving up a three-run homer to Guillermo Heredia in the second inning. He needed 105 pitches to get through five innings.
Rafael Devers went 0-for-4 with two walks in his major league debut. He struck out on three pitches with the potential go-ahead run on third in the top of the 11th inning.
GAME LOG:
- After getting a baserunner at second with one out in the top of the first, the Red Sox extended their RISP woes with two groundouts to strand Benintendi at second, making them 0-for-6 with RISP in this series.
- In the second inning, Pomeranz tried to get a 93 mph fastball past Guillermo Heredia, who tomahawked the pitch at the top of the strike zone.
- The Red Sox have been shut out in the first 12 innings at Safeco, dating back to Monday night.
- Control has been something of an issue for Pomeranz of late. He's already issued three walks in the first three innings tonight. In his previous start, he walked five; he also walked five on July 7.
- Hanley Ramirez's homer in the fourth was the 100th of the season for the Red Sox, still last in the A.L. For Ramirez, 12 of his 17 homers have been solo shots. That accounts for his mere 40 RBI.
- The two-run double from Pedroia in the sixth is exactly the kind of hit the Red Sox have been searching for. It tied the game at 3-3 and represented the first hit with RISP for the Sox in this series.
- RHP Carson Smith threw a 20-pitch "controlled'' bullpen in Seattle Tuesday afternoon, while back in Boston, RHP Joe Kelly tossed a 25-pitch bullpen, as both make their way back toward re-joining the active roster. Kelly, of course, is much closer to doing so. He'll throw another bullpen Friday when the team starts its next homestand and would then be scheduled for a brief rehab assignment in the minors - likely a game or two. Smith still needs another bullpen back home, and then perhaps a live BP session or two before beginning his rehab stint. That will far lengthier than Kelly's, as Smith hasn't pitched in competitive games in more than 15 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery.