GAME #49, SEATTLE MARINERS AT BOSTON RED SOX

[Bear]

MARINERS V RED SOX

SUNDAY, MAY 28, 2017, AT 1:30 PM AT FENWAY PARK

TV:  NESN, ROOTSW

SEATTLE, (21-29)......................................................................BOSTON, (27-21)

SEATTLE:

CHRISTIAN BERGMAN, RHP, 1-2, 6.30ERA, 12K

Bergman will look to bounce back from his rough outing in D.C., in which
he allowed ten runs on fourteen hits in four innings against the Nationals. 
That one start spiked his ERA from 2.25 to 6.30.

BOSTON:

PORCELLO, RHP, 3-5, 4.35ERA, 62K

The sinkerballer hasn't been able to replicate the form on his 2016 breakout
season; opponents are hitting .296 off him.  Porcello is 2-4 with a 5.50ERA at
home.  He has a 3.69ERA in his career vs. the Mariners.

Red Sox seek sweep of Mariners, 7th straight

Evan Chronis

The Red Sox and Mariners wrap up their Memorial Day weekend series on Sunday afternoon, with Boston going for the sweep and a seven-game winning streak.

Red Sox starter Rick Porcello (3-5, 4.35 ERA) will look to record consecutive victories for the first time in 2017. The righty gave up 11 hits and four earned runs in his start against Texas on Tuesday, but still earned the win thanks to solid run support from Boston's offense.

According to Porcello, the recent performance of the Red Sox's bats has made the pitching staff's job easier.
"They're doing a great job of swinging the bats," Porcello said. "Our focus as a pitching staff is to maintain consistency and keep us in games so they can go out and execute their gameplan."

Christian Bergman (1-2, 6.30 ERA) will be on the mound for the Mariners, looking to bounce back from a rough outing against the Nationals on Tuesday. The right-hander was rocked for 14 hits and 10 runs in four innings, pushing his ERA up from 2.25 to 6.30.

"He didn't have the sharpness to the cutter," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "That was the pitch that really helped him in the outing against Oakland when he was very, very good. The lateness to the break of the cutter was huge, and it was something different the hitters hadn't seen before. He had some deception with it as well. He did not have that same pitch in Washington, and they got some good swings on it. Hopefully that will be back [on Sunday]."

Seattle right fielder Ben Gamel will be back in the lineup when the Red Sox start a right-hander for the first time this series. The rookie has hit .308 against righties in 25 games since being called up on April 26.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS GAME

• In his two starts against Seattle in 2016, Porcello went 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA. He tossed a complete game in his last meeting with the Mariners, going eight innings and allowing four hits, but taking a 3-1 defeat.

• While Bergman is in his fourth year in the Majors, the only current Red Sox player that he has faced is designated hitter Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez went 1-for-3 against Bergman in a 2014 game.

• Seattle designated hitter Nelson Cruz has a .161 batting average against Porcello in 31 at-bats. That's the fourth-lowest average Cruz has against a pitcher he has faced over 20 times.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170527232769744/red-sox-seek-sweep-of-mariners-7th-straight/?game_pk=490855

[Bear]

RED SOX (27-21)

Mookie Betts, RF
Dustin Pedroia,
2B Xander Bogaerts,
SS Andrew Benintendi,
LF Hanley Ramirez,
DH Mitch Moreland,
1B Jackie Bradley Jr.,
CF Sandy Leon, C
Deven Marrero, 3B
Rick Porcello, RHP

(3-5, 4.35 ERA) MARINERS (21-29)
Jean Segura, SS
Ben Gamel, RF
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nelson Cruz, DH
Kyle Seager, 3B
Danny Valencia, 1B
Guillermo Heredia, LF
Jarrod Dyson, CF
Carlos Ruiz, C
Christian Bergman, RHP (1-2, 6.30 ERA)

http://nesn.com/2017/05/red-sox-vs-mariners-lineup-rick-porcello-aims-to-extend-bostons-streak/

[markj]

The Red Sox GIDP machine rolls on. 2 so far and it's just the 2nd inning.

[markj]

Another inning, another GIDP. Has any team ever hit into a DP in every inning of a single game?

[markj]

And again! 4 innings, 4 GIDPs. Two for Ben Nintendo, who's becoming a GIDP machine.

[markj]

Moreland easily thrown out and JBJ K's, so not a GIDP, but the same results.

[Schloicka]

Porcello gives up 2 runs in 6.1 innings. He didn't have much of anything today but kept the team in the game. 2-0 Seattle through 7 innings.

[Schloicka]

Now 3-0 through 7 1/2.

[Schloicka]

3-0 through 8.

[Bill-806]

  NOT good..... How come we can't win every game ??

[markj]

At least they took the series. Need to work on avoiding those damn GIDPs, though.

[SeaBeachFred]

At least they took the series. Need to work on avoiding those damn GIDPs, though.

It is very troubling and needs to be reversed or we'll hit our way into oblivion if this keeps up mark.  One thing I noticed is that Benny has become more pull happy since he has been installed as the cleanup hitter, a move I have been totally against from Day 1.  Put him back at No. 2 and let him get back to using the whole field which is what he did earlier before this ridiculous switch was made. Put Pedroia back at No. 1 because he handled that very well last season just as he handled No. 3 in that WS Title year of 2013.  Betts is wasting away his talent at leadoff and his average has plummeted.  That batting order must be changed or these DP's will continue to flourish and our tempers will continue to roil.

[SeaBeachFred]

  NOT good..... How come we can't win every game ??

It had to end soon Bill, but did it have to end so miserably.  We couldn't do a damn this to guy carrying a 6.30 ERA into the game, but what troubles me more is that this is not the way to end a home stand before embarking on a ten game road trip.  This is a trip that can make or break us if we go into the tank, a salient feature of all our  teams sine that disaster of September, 2011.  After Price's terrible outings at Pawtucket he needs to have his stuff going tomorrow and the hitters need to HIT!!!!!!  This is no time to retreat into a slump but slump it will be unless we play much better than we did today.  Hopefully, this was just a hiccup in our comeback from a poor start.

[dgalehouse]

Is anyone else sick and tired of that dumb airline commercial ? 

[markj]

If it's Southwest, then you're being redundant. All SWA commercials are dumb by default. And they show them a million times each game.