BOSTON — The Red Sox have emerged from their early-season slide and are starting to pile up series wins.
The move started with two from Texas, taking two of three from the Rangers in Arlington. The Sox then returned home to start a seven-game homestand by taking two of three from the Houston Astros.
Now the Sox have taken the first two of a four-game series with the Seattle Mariners with Friday night’s 7-3 victory before a packed house of 30,842 at Fenway Park.
They can make it three straight series wins with one victory in the next two games against the Mariners. The Red Sox have Garrett Whitlock on the mound on Saturday and Nathan Eovaldi on Sunday looking to complete a sweep.
The Sox rotation got a boost with the return of Michael Wacha, who had been on the injured list since May 8 with left intercostal irritation.
The signature play of the game was a grand slam by red hot second baseman Trevor Story in the bottom of the third. Jackie Bradley Jr. clinched the game with a three-run opposite field homer in the eighth.
The takeaways:
True Story
Story gave an encore performance to his career night in the Sox’ 12-6 win on Thursday in the series opener.
Story went 4 for 5 with a career high five runs, three home runs, seven RBIs and a stolen base, to become just the second Red Sox player to post those numbers in a game. He complemented that effort by swatting a grand slam to give the Red Sox a 4-0 in the bottom of the third Friday.
Story got ahead of a 1-2 pitch by Mariners’ starter Robbie Ray and deposited it into the front row of the Monster seats. It was Story’s sixth home run of the season and the fourth grand slam of his career. The last time Story cleared the bases was with Colorado against the Phillies on April 25, 2021.
Wacha’s world
Right-hander Michael Wacha made his first start since May 3, when he tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 4-0 win against the Angels. Wacha’s return got off to a rocky start. The Mariners had runners on first and third with two outs when Wacha got left fielder Jesse Winker to pop to third to end the threat.
After facing the minimum nine Mariners in the second, third and fourth, Wacha got in trouble in the fifth. Eugenio Suarez led off with a double to right-center and Abraham Toro followed with a home run to right to cut the lead to 4-2.
After giving up a lined single to right to put runners on the corners with two outs, Wacha gave the ball to relief pitcher Austin Davis. The southpaw canned Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford to end the threat.
Wacha went 4 2/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. He threw 75 pitches, 44 for strikes.
Kiké leads the way
Red Sox manager Alex Cora elected to keep center fielder Kiké Hernandez in the leadoff despite batting a woeful .177 as the Red Sox place setter. Hernandez justified Cora’s confidence by leading off the game with a double to left. He drew a one-on, no-out walk in third and opened the fifth with a leadoff single.
