Mariners squeak past Red Sox in 11

Baseball Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rob Johnson went 3-for-5 with three doubles, including a two-run double in the top of the 11th, to lift the Seattle Mariners past the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox, 7-6, in the opener of a three-game set at Fenway Park.

Ramon Ramirez (5-3), who took over on the mound for Boston in the top of the 11th, gave up a single to Franklin Gutierrez and walked Ryan Langerhans to put men on first and second. Chris Woodward moved the runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt. Johnson then stepped to the plate and laced the eventual game- winning hit down the right-field line.

Mark Lowe came on for the M's in the bottom half and made things interesting when he gave up a two-out solo homer to George Kottaras -- the first of his career. J.D. Drew then singled to right, but Lowe got Dustin Pedroia to ground into a fielder's choice to pick up his first save of the season.

Ronny Cedeno went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run for the Mariners, who have won four of six. Jose Lopez went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and a double for Seattle, which improved to 4-3 on a nine-game road trip. Langerhans had a pair of doubles and scored twice.

Felix Hernandez was strong in seven frames, remaining unbeaten in his last eight starts, allowing three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and two walks to take the no-decision for the Mariners. Chris Jakubauskas (5-5) tossed a scoreless ninth and 10th to collect the win.

Nick Green had a pair of doubles, including a two-run hit in the bottom of the eighth to tie the tilt, for the Red Sox, who have alternated wins and losses in their last six games. Drew added a solo homer for Boston, which started a 10-game homestand on Friday.

Tim Wakefield went eight frames, giving up five runs on 10 hits with three strikeouts to take the no-decision for the Red Sox. Wakefield made the 383rd start of his Boston career on Friday, passing Roger Clemens for the most in club history.

Ahead, 5-3, the M's sent Sean White to the mound to begin the bottom of the eighth, but he quickly ran into trouble. After getting David Ortiz to fly out, White walked Jason Bay and gave up a single to Mark Kotsay to put men on first and second. Shawn Kelley, who was activated from the 15-day DL on Friday, then took over on the bump and got Jacoby Ellsbury to fly out, but Green stepped to the plate and stroked a two-run double off the top of the Green Monster to tie the contest at five.

Manny Delcarmen retired Seattle in order in the top of the ninth, while Jakubauskas retired the Red Sox 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning to send the game into extra frames.

The Red Sox drew first blood with a pair of runs in the first inning. Pedroia singled, and Ortiz walked to put men on first and second with two outs. Bay then stroked an RBI ground-rule double to right field. With Kotsay batting, Ortiz crossed the plate on a wild pitch from Hernandez for an early two-run cushion.

Seattle scored a run in the third to cut the deficit in half. Johnson doubled off the Green Monster, advanced to third on Ichiro Suzuki's single and scored on Russell Branyan's single to right.

The Mariners plated three runs in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead. Langerhans started things with a one-out double to center and scored two batters later when Johnson doubled off the Green Monster. Cedeno then stepped to the plate and drove a Wakefield offering over the wall in center.

Boston put men on second and third with two outs in the sixth, but Hernandez struck out Green looking to end the threat.

Drew's solo shot to center in the seventh brought the Red Sox within one, 4-3, but Lopez started the eighth with a homer over the Green Monster to restore Seattle's two run lead.

Game Notes

To make room on the roster for Kelley, the Mariners optioned infielder Mike Carp to Triple-A Tacoma on Friday...Seattle won two of three games from the Red Sox at Safeco Field from May 15-17 but are just 6-17 over their last 23 visits to Fenway Park. Seattle has not taken a series in Boston since winning two of three tests from August 14-16, 2001...Boston owns a league-best 35-11 mark at home this year.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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