4/23/25
(Boston, MA) Stuck inside their own house of horrors in Fenway Park, the Seattle Mariners would look to change the narrative in the middle game of the three-game series with the Boston Red Sox. Missed opportunities in the opener put Seattle behind right out of the gate in the series.
In game two, a couple of pitchers that have struggled so far this season met as both looked to right the ship. After a disastrous 2025 debut, Emerson Hancock bounced back in his second outing in Cincinnati. Meanwhile, after a strong debut, Sean Newcomb has struggled to build off of that outing while struggling receiving run support from his offense.
Mariners 8, Red Sox 5 (Game Two, April 23rd)
Just like they did in the opener, Seattle grabbed the game’s first run in the top of the 1st. A single by Julio Rodríguez and a Cal Raleigh walk put a couple of men on with one out. After Sean Newcomb struck out Randy Arozarena, the Mariners cashed in with two outs. Mitch Garver sent a grounder back up the middle and into center field. J-Rod came around to score without a throw and the M’s grabbed the 1-0 lead.
Seattle would waste a bases loaded opportunity with nobody out thanks to a bad luck line drive double play hit by Dylan Moore. In the top of the 4th, Seattle would open things up a bit. Back-to-back singles by Ben Williamson and Leo Rivas put two men on immediately in the inning. In stepped J.P. Crawford and the beloved Mariner continued his recent success at the plate. After falling behind 2-0, Newcomb battled back to even the count before making a mistake. Newcomb hung a breaking ball and Crawford won the lefty-lefty battle by sending a three-run blast out to right center. Crawford’s first homer of the season gave the M’s some breathing room with a 4-0 lead.
Emerson Hancock look dialed in this time around for the Mariners as he limited the Red Sox in a tough park for pitchers. A couple of two-out walks in the bottom of the 4th turned into trouble for the young righty as Romy Gonzalez sent a single to right to score a run and make it 4-1. In the bottom of the 5th, a single by Ceddanne Rafaela and a double for Jarren Duran put a couple runners in scoring position with nobody out. Boston would get one run in on a groundout by Rafael Devers, but that was all against Hancock. Another strong start for Emerson Hancock continued to calm down those worried about the fifth spot in the rotation as he went six innings and allowed just two runs on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Offensively, the Mariners never let up. An error allowed Leo Rivas to score from first on a grounder and put Dylan Moore on second with the score 5-2. Julio drove in Moore with a base hit to left but the bats weren’t done. In the 7th, Seattle roughed up Josh Winckowski after Randy Arozarena singled and Mitch Garver walked with nobody out. Rowdy Tellez then singled to load the bases and Ben Williamson recorded his third hit of the game with an RBI single to right, making it 7-2. J.P. Crawford added on with another RBI single to give him four for the game to make it 8-2 late.
However, things were not all sunshine and rainbows for the Mariners in the final innings. In the bottom of the 8th, things got interesting. Casey Legumina got in trouble with a walk to Rafael Devers and a single by Alex Bregman. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Legumina then started to work his way out of trouble. Back-to-back strikeouts of Wilyer Abreu and Trevor Story put the young reliever one out away from getting out of trouble. Tristan Casas had other ideas. For the second consecutive day, the Boston first baseman smashed a three-run home run and this one brought the Red Sox back to life. It was his third long ball of the season and made the score 8-5 going into the 9th.
With the game now tight, Andrés Muñoz was called into duty for the 9th. The good news for Seattle was that their closer was locked in. Muñoz struck out Rob Refsnyder to begin the inning before getting Ceddanne Rafaela to ground out to Williamson at third. Jarren Duran looked to make things interesting with a hard line drive to left, but Arozarena was able to track it down to put things away. While it wasn’t the blowout it looked like it would be, it was still a big 8-5 win for the Mariners.
Notable Performances
Mariners
- J.P. Crawford- 2-4, HR, 4 RBI, R, BB
- Ben Williamson- 3-5, RBI, R
- Emerson Hancock (W, 1-1)- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
Red Sox
- Tristan Casas- 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB
- Alex Bregman- 2-4, 2B, R
- Sean Newcomb (L, 0-3)- 5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO
What’s Next
After surviving a bit of a late scare in game two in Boston, the Seattle Mariners will now look to earn their fifth consecutive series win when the M’s and Red Sox meet in the rubber game of the series on Thursday at 10:35am. The game concludes the Mariners nine-game road trip and Bryan Woo (2-1, 3.12 ERA) will get the ball for Seattle. Woo is off to a good start this season but has been better at home than on the road. In T-Mobile Park, Woo has an ERA of 1.38 while his road ERA is up at 4.85. He will have to be on his A-game as he will face Boston’s new ace Garrett Crochet. In his first season with Boston, Crochet (2-1, 1.13 ERA) has been worth the prospects Boston traded to acquire him as they also locked up the southpaw to a 6-year, $170 million extension. He was yet to allow more than two earned runs in a start this season.
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