Tonight, Boston (41-37, 20-16 away) fell to 0-5 in extra innings (0-2 on the road) as they lost 3-2 in 11 innings to Seattle (34-46, 15-22 home) at Safeco Field.
Chone Figgins's sacrifice fly scored Dustin Ackley (2 hits) with the winning run. Much like John Jaso's walk-off single two nights ago, right fielder Cody Ross made a fine throw to home but once again catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia couldn't handle it. Guess he didn't practice that between games. This was a tougher play (less time, bad hop) but he's still got to make it if he is to ever going to be considered an All-Star.
For those keeping track at home, Seattle has scored a total of four runs in the first three games of this series yet they are 2-1. Boston can do no better than a split provided that they win tomorrow afternoon.
Before the game, outfielder Darnell McDonald was designated for assignment which means the Red Sox have 10 days to trade, release or send him to Pawtucket. With all the young outfielders that have come up plus Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford rehabbing, it was simply a numbers decision. D-Mac was a good teammate but his lack of production didn't justify a spot with Boston anymore. Good luck to him moving forward.
This game couldn't have fallen much more in the Red Sox' favor since Mariners starter Erasmo Ramirez left in the third inning with an injury. That meant that Seattle had to use six relievers to close it out. Somehow it all worked with Shawn Kelley (2-2) getting a 1-2-3 11th with two strikeouts to earn the win.
Boston's closer Alfredo Aceves (0-5) ended up going 2.1 innings (25 pitches) which means he could be unavailable tomorrow in a save situation.
Josh Beckett's first start in 19 days was about all you could positively expect: six innings, two earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
The Red Sox' inept offense killed them this evening as they went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and they left 10 guys on base, brutal numbers for a team that had pounded the ball on its most recent homestand (7-2).
John Jaso gave Seattle a 2-0 lead with a two-run double in the sixth. Boston tied it with two in the seventh on Ryan Kalish's ground out and a passed ball by Miguel Olivo which allowed Will Middlebrooks to score.
Adrian Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with a run but he also got gunned out at second base in the eighth inning trying to stretch a single into a double. Making it sting more, that was the third out.
Cody Ross had two hits and a walk for Boston while Ichiro (run, stolen base) and Olivo each produced two hits for Seattle.
Felix Doubront (8-4) faces Jason Vargas (7-7) tomorrow afternoon (4:10 p.m., NESN) in the series finale. It's a must-win for the Red Sox because losing a series 3-1 to the Triple-A worthy Mariners would be an absolute disaster.
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