BOSTON — The Red Sox found exactly what they needed on Wednesday night against the Mariners, although it required an inning of overtime at Fenway Park.
Having yet to seize a series win since returning from the All-Star break, Boston was in dire need of a momentum shift. Like the Red Sox, the Mariners, too, are in the middle of a tight American League wild-card race, which has continuously amplified the importance of every game for Boston moving forward. Needless to say, escaping a fourth consecutive series loss to begin the second half of the season was understandably satisfying for the Red Sox following their 3-2 win in 10 innings over Seattle.
“It’s a good one. It feels like a relief, to be honest,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora explained. “It was a grind the whole day. … Every pitch mattered. They have a good team, they can pitch. We had our chances, it didn’t happen so to win the series, it feels good. Big day tomorrow, an off-day. The boys are going to Texas, hang out in the hotel and do their thing, and be ready for Friday.”
Boston made a handful of pre-trade deadline moves, but newcomers Danny Jansen and Lucas Sims were the only acquisitions to contribute to the victory. Moving forward, the Red Sox will hunt for a switch flip after losing two of three in the first three series to open up the second half of the season. But for now, courtesy of a Rafael Devers walk-off double off the Green Monster, the Red Sox can enjoy a hard-earned win on their flight to Texas.
“It was an awesome win for sure,” Tyler O’Neill said. “Seattle’s a really good team over there. They’re in the hunt for the wild card and they have a chance to win the division over in the West so it was a good win for us. Raffy came up big in the clutch there in the end. … He’s got that clutch gene so it’s awesome to see it.”
The Red Sox remain seven games back of the division-leading Baltimore Orioles and two games back of the Kansas City Royals for the AL’s final wild card spot.
Here are more notes from Wednesday night’s Red Sox-Mariners thriller:
— O’Neill was caught in the middle of a wild infield interference play call in the seventh inning, which ended a scoring chance for Boston in the seventh inning. The 29-year-old didn’t understand the ruling in real-time and stuck by that stance postgame.
“I don’t know what else I can do. I took a step back toward the bag,” O’Neill explained. “I wasn’t making an effort to get in anybody’s way. I didn’t think there was anyone gonna be in the way to begin with so it definitely felt like there was some intent there. That’s tough luck, but it wasn’t even Turner’s ball, he didn’t end up catching it so I don’t know.”
— Jansen came through in his debut with Boston by going 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI single in the sixth inning that tied the score with Seattle at 2-2. Jansen also made a tremendous catch after nearly mistracking a pop fly in foul territory in the ninth inning.
“Just looking to help out any way I can,” Jansen said.
— Boston recorded its fourth walk-off victory this season while Devers notched his third career walk-off RBI.
— The Red Sox improved to 11-4 in rubber match contests and earned their first season series win over the Mariners since 2015.
— Back in the victory column, the Red Sox will next embark on a crucial six-game road trip which begins Friday night against the Texas Rangers. First pitch from Globe Life Field is set for 8:05 p.m. ET, and you can catch the live action, plus an hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
