Mariners tormented again by Alex Bregman, Red Sox cruise to 8-3 win
BOSTON – Seeing Alex Bregman choose to sign outside of the AL West this past offseason was supposed to limit the amount of pain and suffering the former Astros nemesis might inflict on the Mariners.
Limit. Not eliminate.
Bregman provided a reminder of those times he got the better of the M’s on Tuesday night, with a pair of doubles and three RBIs to help lift the Red Sox to an 8-3 win in the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park.
Bregman got the better of M’s starter Bryce Miller twice, dropping an RBI double inside the left-field foul line in the third inning and driving home a pair with a shot to the gap in the fifth inning to give the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.
Bregman was 1 for 15 in his career against Miller entering the game and grounded out in his first at bat, only to come through with two big swings off the right-hander his next two times at the plate.
Jorge Polanco hit his fourth homer run of the season in the top of the first and J.P. Crawford provided the M’s first hit with a runner in scoring position driving in a pair with a two-out single in the sixth inning to pull within 4-3.
That was all the M’s would get. Crawford was left at second base to end the sixth when Polanco’s fly ball to left wasn’t deep enough to find the surface of the Green Monster. Any thought of a late rally became moot when Trent Thornton left a curveball middle of the plate and saw Triston Casas send it nearly 400 feet into the center-field seats for a 7-3 lead in the seventh.
Miller labored to get through 4⅔ innings, the second time in three games the M’s starter needed triple-digit pitches to record 14 outs. The 100 pitches Miller threw is likely less of a concern than seeing the velocity on his fastballs decrease, especially in his final inning on the mound.
In his last start in Cincinnati, Miller still touched 95 mph and mostly lived around 94 mph in his final inning of work against the Reds. The issues Miller was having with arm soreness that he felt caused drops in his velocity in previous starts seemed momentarily solved.
The caveat with that start in Cincinnati was that Miller was on a pitch count and left after throwing only 78 pitches in five innings.
Against the Red Sox, Miller didn’t face the same pitch restrictions and the dip in velocity returned. After sitting mostly 94-96 mph through the first four innings, Miller hit 94 mph only once in his final inning with most of his fastballs sitting around 92, 93 mph. The sinking fastball that Bregman lined into the left-center field gap in the bottom of the fifth entered at 93.1 mph and left at 98.3 mph for an unoccupied patch of grass that scored a pair and gave the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.
Miller (1-3) struck out four and walked four.
At the same time as Miller’s dip in velocity returned, so did the M’s issues hitting with runners in scoring position. Seattle was 0 for 6 before Crawford’s soft single fell with two outs in the sixth and scored Ben Williamson and Dylan Moore, both of whom walked against Boston reliever Justin Wilson.
Rowdy Tellez bounced into a double play with the bases loaded to end the first inning off Boston starter Brayan Bello in his season debut. Cal Raleigh was stranded at third when Luke Raley grounded out to end the third. Julio Rodríguez doubled and Polanco walked with one out in the fifth but neither advanced, and the inning ended with Randy Arozarena striking out on a 3-2 pitch.
Seattle finished 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.