Seattle Pours It On in Boston, Cruises to 8-3 Win
A four-run third inning — fueled by two Patrick Sandoval wild pitches and a two-run throwing error — put Seattle in control before Boston ever found its footing. The Mariners rolled to an 8-3 final, with J.P. Crawford going a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored and never making an out.
The story of the night was Boston's third inning unraveling. Sandoval threw a wild pitch to score We. Wilson and push Crawford to second, then Julio Rodriguez singled to center to make it 2-0. The killing blow came next: Naylor singled to left, and left fielder Duran's throwing error allowed both Canzone and Rodriguez to score, pushing Seattle to 4-0. That single play swung Boston's win probability from 36% to 19% — a 17-point collapse on one ground ball and one bad throw. The game was effectively over in the third.
Boston got a brief foothold in the fourth when Story hit a ground rule double to score Abreu, cutting it to 4-1, but Sandoval couldn't hold the line. He finished with 4.0 innings pitched, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, and 3 walks — a line that looks as messy as the inning that defined it. Seattle's bullpen then twisted the knife in the sixth: Pereda singled to center to score two, Arozarena singled to score Crawford, and Canzone doubled to center to score Pereda. Just like that, it was 8-1, and the only remaining question was whether Boston could make the final score look respectable.
They tried. Roman Anthony homered to left center at 370 feet in the seventh — going 3-for-5 on the night with the long ball — and White doubled to score Gasper to make it 8-3. Wilyer Abreu also went 3-for-4, so Boston's lineup wasn't completely dormant. But the damage was done long before those consolation runs crossed the plate. On the Seattle side, Pereda finished 2-for-3 with 2 RBI, Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Canzone chipped in a key double and an RBI despite going just 1-for-3. Bryce Miller gave Seattle 4.2 innings and allowed only 1 earned run despite surrendering 7 hits — a performance that looks like exactly what a winning team needed from its starter to hand the game to the bullpen with a lead intact. Seattle's offense did the rest, and it wasn't close.