Red Sox continue down losing road, drop series opener in Seattle to the Mariners – The Boston Globe

The first Raleigh homer, to right field, came in the second with the Sox leading by a run. Pivetta made it through the following four innings unscathed, but with one out in the seventh and the game still tied, Raleigh hooked a slider, also to right, to give the Mariners the lead.

Seattle scored four runs in the eighth against Pivetta and reliever Joe Jacques, who was just back from Triple A, to put the clamps on the Sox in what amounted to a 6-2 loss.

In all, he put together a stellar start. He lasted 7⅓ innings and was charged with three runs on five hits. He struck out 10 without issuing a walk. The Red Sox needed innings from Pivetta after Sunday’s bullpen game.

“I told him that was huge for today and for the next two days,” manager Alex Cora said after the game. “There’s certain days when you’re short and you have to go to certain guys in those situations, and he was amazing for us.”

Pivetta, who has had success as a reliever, posting a 2.25 ERA in 36 innings while striking out 53 batters, maintained his same routine. Instead of sitting in the dugout, Pivetta came out of the bullpen for his start on Monday.

“I’m kind of just trying to keep the same mindset,” said Pivetta. “Not trying to vary too much from anything. For me, it’s just staying active and then just trying to keep things the same. It’s not to overplay things too much.”

Yet the Sox offense left Pivetta hanging.

The Red Sox knocked Mariners starter George Kirby off his game early, but much like their weekend series in San Francisco against the Giants, the Sox couldn’t put together much offense.

Kirby is known for his pinpoint control and a knack for filling up the strike zone with his four-seam fastball and sinker. He entered the game with the lowest walk percentage in the big leagues at 2.4 percent, and his 9.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio also led the majors.

However, Jarren Duran, the first batter of the contest, set the tone for what would be a grind-it-out start for the Seattle righthander.

Duran fought Kirby in his first at-bat, leading to an eight-pitch walk after falling behind in the count, 0-2. Then Duran’s speed came into play. He stole his 22nd base of the season and an errant throw from catcher Tom Murphy advanced him to third base, before another wild throw, this one on the return from center field by Julio Rodriguez, scored Duran, putting the Red Sox in front, 1-0.

While the Sox failed to add on in the first, Kirby needed 25 pitches to get through it. The second proved to be a bit better for Kirby, who needed just 11 pitches in the inning.

But in the third, Kirby labored again, requiring a mind-boggling 25 pitches while facing just four batters. Duran saw eight pitches again in an at-bat that ended in a sharp ground out to second. Justin Turner saw nine pitches, with his plate appearance ending in a walk.

By the end of three innings, Kirby had run his number up to 61 pitches. The Red Sox knocked him out of the contest after five innings and 97 pitches, but had almost nothing really to show for it.

In the fifth, Pablo Reyes roped a single to center field to start the inning and advanced to second on a Yu Chang ground out to the left side. Duran, who would see a total of 24 pitches from Kirby, reached base on a single to right following another eight-pitch at-bat. But Turner struck out and, after Duran stole his second bag of the game to put both runners in scoring position, Masataka Yoshida lined out to left to end the inning.

In the sixth with Kirby out of the game and lefthander Gabe Speier on to pitch, Rafael Devers and Triston Casas reached base on back-to-back singles. Alex Verdugo then grounded into a double play and Connor Wong grounded out to third to strand Devers.

In the eighth, the Sox missed an opportunity again after Verdugo struck out swinging with runners on first and second.

“We’re frustrated because we didn’t score runs,” said Cora, who was optimistic about his team’s approach at the plate in making Kirby work. “But you’re not going to score runs all the time.”

While they did push across a run in the ninth, the Sox ended the contest just 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position. The Red Sox (56-50) failed to gain ground in the wild-card standings for the second straight day following a Blue Jays loss. The Sox are still 2 ½ games back of Toronto for the last wild-card spot.

The Sox have scored just nine runs across their last four games (all on the road) after scoring 30 over their previous five (all at home). On the road, the Red Sox entered the game plating just 4.3 runs per game, which was tied for 21st in the majors.

“I mean, it’s just baseball,” Duran said. “We’re grinding. It’s a game of battling and the ups and downs I’m happy where we’re at. We’re a scrappy team.”

Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him @byJulianMack.