Trio of solo homers enough as Mariners beat Red Sox 3-1

Travis Shaw, who had a solo homer in the second, opened the 11th against Cody Martin (1-2) with an opposite-field single to left against the shift. Brock Holt delivered the go-ahead RBI, singling on a ground ball up the middle just off the glove of a diving Shawn O’Malley, which allowed Shaw to score easily.

Craig Kimbrel (2-3) retired all four batters he faced – including striking out the side in the 10th – for the victory.

Brad Ziegler came in and after giving up a leadoff walk, was able to strike out Seth Smith to end the ballgame and give Boston a split of the series as they head into the final three games of the 11-game trip.

Red Sox: Drew Pomeranz (0-2) makes his third start since being acquired from San Diego. Boston RF Mookie Betts was named AL Player of the Month for July after recording 11 multihit outings while batting.368 with five homers and 15 RBIs.3.

The Red Sox looked to start fast off Ariel Miranda (one career start) in the first inning and it looked promising with one out.

The Mariners put two runners aboard in the ninth against Fernando Abad when Farrell opted for Kimbrel to face Robinson Cano, who hit a game-deciding three-run homer off Abad on Tuesday. O’Malley’s solo home run off Drew Pomeranz in the fifth inning was the Mariners’ only extra-base hit in the extra-inning affair.

In the 10th, with two outs, Pedroia singled and JBJ walked on a 9-pitch battle.

The Mariners defeated the Red Sox 3-1 on Wednesday night to hand Rick Porcello his first loss since May.

His 3.8 walks per nine innings with the Red Sox before Thursday night was ominous enough, since it represented a slight increase over what he had averaged while with the Padres this season. He allowed three runs off four hits over eight innings in a complete-game effort. The last player the Red Sox called up directly from double-A was all-star Jackie Bradley Jr.

The three home runs by Seattle accounted for the three mistakes Porcello made in an otherwise strong start.

That didn’t work. Dae-Ho Lee, the next hitter, singled to right field to tie it 2-2. “After the first inning, he settled in nicely”. Vincent has been on the disabled list since June 29.

That meant Holt wasn’t in the starting lineup Thursday against the Seattle Mariners, but he replaced Bryce Brentz as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning – and made the most of his opportunity. Boston OF Michael Martinez was claimed off waivers by Cleveland.

According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, the Red Sox are -108 money line favorites to beat the Mariners tonight in Seattle while the M’s are +108 to pull off another upset.

The old record of 35 was set way back in 1930 by Hall of Famer Sam Rice, who was 40 years old throughout the entire season and ultimately ended up playing four more years.

Boston is likely to play Thursday’s game without first baseman Hanley Ramirez, who hurt his wrist in a dugout fall late Tuesday night and was wearing a brace Tuesday.

Ortiz and the Sox will head to Los Angeles this weekend for an Interleague series with the Dodgers, so stay tuned to see what other parting gifts he gets on his road to retirement. RHP Steven Wright will pitch Friday’s opener, with LHPs Eduardo Rodriguez (Saturday) and David Price (Sunday) following.