May 15, 2012 at 4:04 PM
Mariners offense helps revive Boston pitchers in dropping series

The Mariners never really showed up on offense today, dropping a 5-0 decision to the Boston Red Sox in a game that felt over when David Ortiz hit a solo homer in the third to open the scoring.
As it turned out, that was all the runs the Red Sox would need.
The Mariners managed just four hits in seven innings off Josh Beckett, who had a 5.97 earned run average coming in. They had struck out six times the first three innings and nine times by the fifth.
Last night, they revived a struggling Jon Lester by allowing him to go nine innings while allowing one meaningless run in the final frame.
Sounds a little obvious, but the Mariners have to do more offensively in the early going. Blake beavan didn’t give them much today, lasting only four innings after throwing 55 pitches in his first two.
Thing is, being down three runs at Fenway Park after four innings is a bit better than trailing by five runs here or at Yankee Stadium. It wasn’t an insurmountable lead, but it felt like one. Last night, the M’s didn’t hit a ball out of the infield until the fifth. Today, they got their first hit in the fourth on a cheapie infield single.
Shades of 2010 and 2011.
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