The Red Sox’ bats took a collective vow of silence, either a response to the absence of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz or, more likely, to a convincing start from Seattle phenom Felix Hernandez.
“I think the rule of thumb is to double what you hear from a diagnosis standpoint. If I’m going to have a cast on for a month, that means at least eight weeks before I’m back in the big leagues hitting again. You don’t just take the cast off, get in the batter’s box, and hit cleanup again.”
The lack of sizzle that enveloped the 8-0 loss felt like a letdown, though perhaps a predictable one after Thursday night’s fireworks with Tampa Bay, a game that featured brawls and in-house squabbles.
But with the Mariners arriving with the worst record in the majors and the Red Sox holding a 13-game home winning streak, one might think that letdown could have been avoided.
Hernandez - no runs, six hits, five strikeouts in six innings - was the right man on the right night.
“We were flat tonight,” manager Terry Francona said. “I think some of that was from making right turns - them scoring a bunch of runs and us not having a bunch of success at the plate - but we played a flat game, I agree with that. I don’t know if it was because of last night, but some of it has to do with the guy on the other side of the mound.”
Though Hernandez did not approach the one-hit masterpiece he threw at Fenway last year, his 15 straight scoreless innings here speak volumes as to why the visitors walked away with the win.
Hernandez never pitched a clean inning but the Red Sox kept coming up empty. They left the bases loaded in the second and runners on the corners in the third, after which Hernandez began to offer them fewer and fewer chances.
Red Sox starter Bartolo Colon had his first mediocre outing of the season, lasting just five innings, striking out two, walking one and allowing eight hits and six runs, three of them earned.
Colon also committed two of the Red Sox’ three errors on poor throws.
“It is strange for me to make not only the errors but that many in one game,” said Colon through a translator. “However, it’s part of the game. You move on and hopefully the next game it doesn’t happen.”
The loss for Colon (3-1) was his first in four starts, and his arrival in the Red Sox’ rotation is one of the bright spots in the first two months of the season.
Colon thought he had “some pretty good stuff” and that his errors were the story behind his loss. The Mariners hitters deserved some credit, too, as they made far more of their opportunities.
Richie Sexson, Ichiro Suzuki and Jose Vidro each knocked in a pair of runs and Sexson, batting .200 coming in, went 3-for-4.
Sean Casey, with three hits, and J.D. Drew with two were the only Sox with more than one hit.