All you need to know about the Red Sox' loss to the Mariners, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Ninth-inning issues appear again: Hansel Robles, pitching for the third straight day, was a strike away from putting this one to bed and preserving what should have been a 6-5 Red Sox victory. Instead, he gave up a game-tying bloop single to Abraham Toro. Then, after he allowed a line single to left-center which scored the winning run. It was the 13th blown save for the Red Sox this season, and notably, the fourth blown save for Robles. He may be counted on to pitch in some high-leverage spots and he's proven himself to be durable, but it should be obvious by now that he shouldn't be entrusted with a lead in the ninth. Some relievers aren't cut out for that role, and Robles has more than proven he's one of them.
Homers fly: Although the Red Sox had just eight hits, three of them were homers, Rafael Devers hit his team-leading 13th in the first inning to give the Sox a quick 2-0 lead. In the fifth, J.D. Martinez connected for his second in as many nights after going 19 games without one until snapping that drought Friday. Martinez often hits his homers in bunches, so he may just be starting to heat up in the power department. Finally, Bobby Dalbec, a native of the area, looked to have hit the game-winner when he homered in the ninth, his second homer in as many games. Each of Dalbec's five homers this season have snapped tie scores and put the Sox ahead on the scoreboard.
Wacha takes a step back: It would have been hard for Michael Wacha to better what he did last time out -- a complete-game, three-hit shutout that was among the best-pitched games of this season. But Wacha didn't really come close. After the Sox got him three runs in the top of the first, he gave back two right away in the bottom of the inning and then yielded two more in the second. He was better in the third and fourth, retiring five of six hitters he face, but after a one-out walk in the fifth, he was lifted, having thrown 91 pitches to record just 13 outs. Two wild pitches and a hit batsman didn't help the cause at all.
TURNING POINT
Walks can prove highly costly and that's especially true in a save situation. After Hansel Robles retired the dangerous Julio Rodriguez for the first out in the ninth, he promptly issued a walk to J.P. Crawford, putting the potential tying run on base. Sure enough, after he took second on a line single to left, Crawford rode home with the game-tying run on a blooper to center by Abraham Toro.
TWO UP
Christian Vazquez: Vazquez had a run-scoring single in the first inning, and later gunned down Ty France leading off third base for a huge out to end the fourth inning and potentially save a run.
Austin Davis: Davis continues to be arguably the most dependable reliever on the staff. Of the five relievers who worked Saturday night, he was the only run to enjoy 1-2-3 inning. Davis hasn't allowed a run in his last 12 appearances and has allowed just one run in his last 21 appearances.
TWO DOWN
Jake Diekman: Diekman got two quick outs in the sixth before walking two hitters and hitting a third. Ultimately, Ryan Brasier got the Sox out of the jam, but Diekman can be infuriating with his propensity to issue walks and make things more difficult than necessary.
Franchy Cordero: Cordero is slumping again, with an 0-for-4 night that included three strikeouts, making him hitless in his last 16 at-bats. To make matters worse, he dropped a line drive hit right to him in the first inning.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"We decided he wasn't available before the game tonight; that's why you didn't see him. ... He hasn't gone back-to-back and that's something we have to get him ready for and to push him doesn't make sense.'' Alex Cora on why he didn't go to Tanner Houck in the ninth.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* This was the sixth walkoff loss of the season for the Sox.
* The loss was the first one-run loss for the Red Sox since May 8 against the White Sox.
* The Red Sox saw their seven-game winning streak against Seattle come to an end.
* Christian Vazquez has 16 RBI in his last 21 games.
* The loss was just the sixth suffered to a team from the AL West in 22 tries this season.
* The Sox have hit 37 homers in their last 26 games.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox' long West Coast road trip concludes Sunday afternoon at T-Mobile Park, with TBA set to face LHP Robbie Ray (5-6, 4.97) at 4:10 p.m.