Red Sox News & Notes – 7/1

Chone Figgins #9 of the Seattle Mariners is mobbed by teammates after hitting the game winning sacrifice fly in the eleventh inning to defeat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 at Safeco Field on June 30, 2012 in Seattle, Washington.

If you thought the end of the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners last night looked familiar, it’s because it just about was the same as Thursday night.

One of the differences was the fact that instead of Jarrod Saltalamacchia dropping the ball on the throw from Cody Ross, he misplayed it and that allowed the Mariners to take a 3-2 win over the visiting nine in the 11th inning (Thursday night’s loss was in the bottom of the 9th).

We really shouldn’t blame Salty though for the loss. That should lie with the offense which went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

They had runners on first and third in the 4th with two outs only to see Will Middlebrooks strike out. In the 5th, Ross was stranded at second base after Mike Aviles grounded out and Daniel Nava lined out.

They got their first run in the 7th after Ryan Kalish grounded into a fielder’s choice RBI. The second run came in when Middlebrooks scored on a passed ball. But with Kalish at second, Aviles grounded out, Nava walked and Dustin Pedroia grounded out.

In the 9th against Mariners closer Tom Wilhelmsen, they stranded Ross and Kalish on the base paths when Aviles struck out and Nava flew out. In the 10th, Pedroia and David Ortiz led off with singles only to be left there too when Salty struck out, Adrian Gonzalez and Middlebrooks grounded into fielder’s choices.

Against a team like the Mariners who are at the bottom of the AL West, the Red Sox need to win these games. They need to take advantage of the chances when they have them.

Josh Beckett made his return from the disabled list and gave the Red Sox a solid six innings of work. He didn’t allow his first hit of the night until the 5th inning when Miguel Olivo singled. He ran into some trouble in the 6th though.

After getting the first out, Ichiro Suzuki singled and stole second. He walked Casper Wells and that was followed by a Kyle Seager single to load up the bases. Thursday night’s hero John Jaso doubled in two runs. Beckett escaped further trouble by getting Justin Smoak to ground out to him and Olivo to ground to third sandwiched around an intentional walk to Dustin Ackley.

Beckett didn’t show any signs of rust with the layoff due to shoulder inflammation. His fastball was right about the same velocity it was before the stint on the disabled list. He was able to command his fastball and locate it as well as other pitches.

The bullpen was solid behind him as well. Mark Melancon, Andrew Miller, Vicente Padilla and Alfredo Aceves all pitched well. Unfortunately the Mariners got Aceves in his third inning of work to bring in the winning run.

The Red Sox really need a win this afternoon. Losing three-of-four to the Mariners could possibly dampen their spirts and despite two walkoff losses they aren’t playing all that badly. They just need a really big offensive output to keep things on track.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

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Red Sox fall to Mariners in 11 innings [boston globe]

Not under control [boston globe]

Mariners outlast Red Sox in 11 [boston herald]

Morales, Cook answer call for arms [boston herald]

Show of power [boston herald]

Deja vu for Cody Ross [boston herald]

You call these stars? [boston herald]

Doesn’t get old [boston herald]

Sox waste chances, fall in extras, 3-2 [csn new england]

Same play, same result for disappointed Red Sox [csn new england]

First pitch: Sox can’t capitalize on offensive chances [csn new england]