BOSTON — Their five-game losing streak over Chris Lindstrom Jersey , the Seattle Mariners send seven-game winner Marco Gonzales to the mound against Red Sox ace Chris Sale in the deciding game of a three-game series at Fenway Park Sunday.
The Mariners handed Boston left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez only his second loss in 11 decisions with Saturday night’s 7-2 victory and now ask Gonzales to shake off his last start and butt heads with Sale in the finale.
After allowing just six runs in 38 1/3 innings in his previous six starts, Gonzales yielded six and was reached for three home runs in losing to the New York Yankees in the Bronx Tuesday night.
Sale has struck out 30 in 21 innings over his last three starts but is just 1-1 over that span. His team is just 8-8 in his 16 starts and he is 6-4 with a 2.74 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 102 innings in 2018.
The skinny left-hander is 5-1 with a 2.09 ERA in 10 games, eight starts, lifetime against the Mariners.
Gonzales will face the Red Sox for the first time. Boston is just 9-9 in games started by lefties this season.
Mike Leake pitched eight shutout innings to avenge last Sunday’s loss to the Red Sox and defeat Boston for the first time in his career. Closer Edwin Diaz, who hadn’t pitched in a week, worked a shaky ninth and allowed two runs, but that couldn’t taint the evening for the visitors, who took a 14-10 loss in the opener Friday.
“Unbelievable and really big for our ballclub for him to step up tonight,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “Exactly what we needed for someone to shut it down and steady it.”
The Red Sox, who remained a game behind the losing New York Yankees atop the American League East, fell to 13-2 in Rodriguez’s 5 starts.
While Mookie Betts (illness) was out of the Boston lineup, both teams were without their shortstops Saturday night.
Seattle’s Jean Segura missed his third straight game with an arm infection, had it drained by a Boston doctor Friday and hopes to play Sunday.
“It was bad,” Segura said before Saturday’s game. “It was hurting me, especially when I was swinging. I couldn’t extend my arm. It doesn’t feel right when you swing and feel pinching, like somebody is trying to grab your bat. As a player Kyler Murray Jersey , you don’t want that feeling.
“If it feels good, I’ll play. But you can’t play around with an infection. I have to wait til it recovers.”
Boston’s Xander Bogaerts, suffered a sprained left index finger diving into second base Friday night and sat out Saturday. He was due for a game off Saturday, anyway, and the hope and Betts will both play Sunday.
“How’s Xander? He’s day to day,” manager Alex Cora said. “We’ll see. (We’ll) probably stay away from him tomorrow. We were looking for an off-day, and it just came up now. Hopefully he’ll be ready to play on Sunday.”
After the game, Cora said he hoped both would be ready to play
The Mariners, 3-4 against Boston in the last 10 days, remained three games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West.
The current Seattle roster is hitting a combined .200 against Sale.
Nelson Cruz is 8-for-26 (.308) with two homers and four RBIs against Sale, but Mike Zunino is 0-for-7. Kyle Seager is 1-for-16 (.063), Ryon Healy and Guillermo Heredia both 1-for-6 (.167) and Andrew Romine 3-for-14 (.214).
Triston Casas, the Red Sox top pick in the recent draft, took batting practice in the same group of J.D. Martinez before Saturday night’s game.
COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — Anthony Lynn has a busy stretch ahead before the Los Angeles Chargers report to camp on July 24.While many in the NFL try to relax in the five weeks between minicamp and training camp Andy Isabella Jersey , Lynn plans on getting his family foundation off the ground as well as open a new school in Africa.“With the Africa trip and everything it seems like I have a lot going on, but when I’m not coaching football, I am passionate about other things,” Lynn said.Lynn and his wife, Stacey, launched the Lynn Family Foundation two months ago. Their first significant fundraising event will be a golf tournament in Dallas on June 24.A couple days later, Lynn will be heading to Tanzania to open a school for students in kindergarten through seventh grade. The goal is to eventually educate kids through 12th grade. Lynn’s foundation has partnered with Common Threadz to build the school.“There was a certain place in Tanzania where they didn’t have schools and teenagers were going into the military and young ladies were getting hauled off into sex trafficking,” Lynn said. “We thought that we needed education there. I helped a little bit and we’re going to go open it up.”Lynn also realizes his foundation can have a bigger impact if the Chargers can continue their success from last season, which he says has motivated him to become a better coach.Lynn began his break by visiting with Ventura police officer Craig Kelly Clelin Ferrell Jersey , who was one of the first responders who saved Lynn’s life when he was struck by a drunk driver in 2005.He suffered two collapsed lungs and three broken ribs as well as major facial and shoulder damage that required four surgeries. Lynn met the four first responders who saved his life last year at a fire station in Pasadena during the shooting of a Verizon ad highlighting the work of first responders.“I am surprised how much people comment about the ad because it is something I have been dealing with all my life,” he said. “I just want them to receive the credit. They were heroes even before my incident.”Lynn said he plans to visit the scene of the accident for the first time and may also do a ride-along with Kelly.Lynn will end his break by participating in the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament in Lake Tahoe in early July. After that, it’ll be time to prepare for the season.The Chargers were 12-4 last season and made the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Lynn said he was pleased with how the team handled the past couple months of OTAs and minicamp amid the expectations that surround a possible Super Bowl contender.“We have a lot of the core guys returning and I feel good about where we are at,” Lynn said. “You could tell from Day 1 we are on the same page.”