Two bunts and a bomb?
It’s not exactly the typical modern plan for offensive success, well, except for the home-run aspect.
But on a frigid night at Fenway Park with windchill temperatures just above freezing, the Mariners used a pair of sacrifice bunts and a big blast to rally for a 7-3 victory over the Red Sox.
So how did the Mariners utilize those things for their sixth come-from-behind victory of the season?
Down 3-2 in the eighth inning, catcher Luis Torrens worked a leadoff walk against Red Sox reliever Adam Ottavino. Torrens was immediately replaced by pinch runner Sam Haggerty, which would prove useful later in the game. Pinch-hitter Jose Marmolejos also worked a walk off Ottavino to move the tying run into scoring position. While teams loathe to give away outs, the strategy to have No. 9 hitter J.P. Crawford sacrifice bunt the runners up 90 feet was obvious.
The Mariners got more than 90 feet when Ottavino fielded Crawford’s bunt back to the mound and made a poor throw to third base that Rafael Devers couldn’t corral. It allowed Haggerty to hustle home with the tying run.
In the 10th inning with Evan White starting on second base, Taylor Trammell put down a perfect sac bunt and Haggerty followed with a double over the head of left fielder Franchy Cordero. It was the second time in the game Cordero misplayed a ball and let it get over his head.
As a visiting team, a 4-3 lead in extra innings isn’t necessarily a guaranteed win with the home team also starting the inning with runner on second base. The Mariners had also already used Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero to force the game into extra innings.
But Mitch Haniger provided the insurances with a three-run home run to right-center to make it 7-3. It was his fifth homer of the season.
Anthony Misiewicz pitched a scoreless bottom of the 10th to secure the win over the American League East-leading Red Sox.
The end was much more productive than the start for Seattle.
For almost six innings, the Mariners were no-hit by Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta, with his teammates staking him a 2-0 lead.
But with two outs in the sixth, J.P. Crawford wouldn’t give on a 2-2 count. He shrugged off two pitches that he could’ve easily been swung at and took a walk.
Haniger showed a similar discipline, working a 3-0 count, taking a hittable strike and then refusing to chase a high fastball for another walk.
It did look like Pivetta might escape the inning when his 2-1 slider to Ty France was called a strike despite being four inches off the plate — taking the count to 2-2 instead of 3-1. In the 2019 season, MLB hitters produced a .180/.185/.298 slash line on 2-2 counts vs. a .363/.711/.713 slash line on 3-1 counts. But after France fouled off a fastball away, Pivetta tried to throw that same slider off the plate. Unlike the previous slider, this was actually on the plate and hittable. France smoked a line-drive over the head of leaping left fielder Cordero. It scored both runs and tied the game at 2.
Seattle got a decent, but pitch-filled outing from starter Justin Dunn. The young right-hander, who had a brilliant career at Boston College, gave the Mariners five innings, allowing two runs on six hits with a walk, a hit by pitch and six strikeouts. With his parents, brother, friends and his old college coach watching, Dunn dealt with traffic on the bases every inning, which isn’t an uncommon occurrence.
But his first run allowed came in the second when Devers led off the inning with a solo blast to the right-field seats on a 1-0 fastball on the inside corner. `
The Red Sox pushed the lead to 2-0 in the fourth when Devers led off with a single, stole second and later scored on Hunter Renfroe’s single to right field.
The Mariners bullpen, which had come into the game having held opponents scoreless for 19 1/3 innings and not allowed an earned run in 24 1/3 innings, had that streak snapped in the seventh inning. Casey Sadler gave up a leadoff triple to Kiké Hernandez, which was misplayed off the Green Monster by left fielder Taylor Trammell and center fielder Kyle Lewis, who have never played in the unique old ballpark. Hernandez would later score when Luis Torrens allowed a blockable curveball in the dirt to get past him for a wild pitch.
