Seattle shuts out Sox, ends home win streak at 13

Mariners 8, Sox 0
WP: Hernandez (4-5)
LP: Colon (3-1)
SV: None
HRs: None

SUMMARY:
Felix Hernandez pitched well at Fenway again and got plenty of support from his offense, Bartolo Colon was horrible, from his pitching to his defense, and the Sox were shut out for the first time since...Seattle blanked them 1-0 on May 28th.

#1 STUNNER: Hernandez 6IP, 6H, 0ER, 3BB, 5K, 106P
King Felix continued his reign over the Red Sox as the former phenom racked up his second straight shutout at Fenway dating back to last April's 1-hitter.

According to the wire services his 15 consecutive scoreless innings at Fenway are the longest by an opposing pitcher since 1956. Yikes.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Colon 5IP, 8H, 6R, 3ER, 1BB, 2K, 2E, 79P
Not only did the hefty righty have his worst performance for Boston pitching-wise, but his two inexcusable errors throwing the ball to second base led to three key unearned runs and helped seal the Sox fate. Ugh.

RECAP:
We knew the good times had to end sometime, for Boston and Bartolo Colon, and I don't think anyone was surprised that it all came crashing down tonight.

One night after playing in an exhausting, brawl-filled ballgame that saw three Sox leave the field prematurely and on the same day that three players received suspensions for their actions, Boston's 13 game home winning streak came to a crashing halt at the hands of the slumping Mariners.

On the heels of all that drama the Sox lineup resembled a B squad scrimmage at City of Palms park with Manny Ramirez, Jacoby Ellsbury and of course Big Papi all riding the pine in this one due to injury.

So is it any wonder that the man who nearly pitched a no hitter here last year came to town and shut down the emotionally drained and psychologically stained Sox?

Well yeah, kinda, because after all this Mariner team was in shambles coming in here, losers of four in a row and 12 of 15 and possessors of the worst record in baseball.

So even though a Boston letdown was almost inevitable with all the turmoil swirling around the club, for the measly M's to shut out one of the best offensive teams in the league for the second time in 10 days was a bit surprising.

But I guess we gotta look on the bright side: at least no punches were thrown.

The game was basically over in the first four innings as Seattle jumped out to a 5-0 lead and Boston could do nothing right, including capitalize on an early bases loaded opportunity that could have changed the complexion of the game.

In the top of the first Jose Lopez hit a one-out single to center and Colon responded with a four pitch walk to Raul Ibanez (2-3, 3R, 2BB.) The inning should have ended, though, when the next batter, Adrian Beltre, grounded back to the mound for what looked like a tailor made double play.

Except Colon made the first of many mental blunders on the evening, tossing the ball between Pedroia and Lugo, who were splitting the bag, and the ball sailed into center field as Lopez scored the first run and Ibanez moved to third.

Jose Vidro then hit the next pitch from Colon for an RBI groundout and Seattle had a quick 2-0 lead.

After Colon retired the side in order in the second Boston had a chance to get right back in the game when they loaded the bases off King Felix on a single by Mayor Casey (3-4), a bunt single by Captain Tek and a two-out walk to Lugo.

But in a twisted taste of karma Cock-o Crisp came to the plate with the sacks full and a chance to do some damage with something other than his mouth or fists, and all the sleazy centerfielder could do was strike out.

Granted it was a check swing strike three, and it didn't look like he went around, but what did he think he was going to get a favorable call from the umps after the debacles of the past two nights?

Like Earl always says karma's a bitch.

After dodging that bullet Seattle would tack on another run in third when sloppy plays by Boston led to a gift Seattle score.

Ichiro (1-5, R, 2BI) reached on an error by Mike Lowell to lead off the inning, a call that should have gone to Crazy Kevin Youkilis but the hometown scorer obviously wanted to keep the first baseman's errorrless streak intact.

Lopez followed with a single to set up runners at second and third with no outs, but after Colon got Ibanez to pop out he foolishly tried to pick Ichiro off second, and once again the ball sailed into center field and both runners moved into scoring position.

Two pitches later Beltre blasted a ball to center to easily score Ichiro, and although the score was only 3-0 it strangely felt like 10-0.

Boston squandered a two on, one out opportunity in the bottom of the inning when a single by Drew (2-3, BB) and a walk to Lowell were wasted when Youk flied out and Casey struck out, and then Seattle would put the game away in the fourth with a pair of earned runs (for a change.)

A single by Richie Sexon (3-4, R, 2BI) and a ground rule double by Yunieski 'All Name Team' Betancourt put runners at second and third with one out, and then Ichiro slapped a single to left that scored both runners, although a great throw by Brandon Moss nearly nabbed Yuni at the plate.

That made the score 5- and it was time to go outside and water the lawn, do some yardwork and hang out with the fam as this one was all but over.

Evidently Seattle scored another run when a ball glanced off Colon's glove (talk about losing it all in one game), and for good measure David Aardsma (1IP, 2H, 2ER, 2BB, 1K) surrendered a pair of runs in the seventh to reach the final score of 8-0.

By that time I, along with many in the Nation and in the Sox dugout, had checked out of this one, wishing there was a Celts game on to divert our attention from the messy massacre that was taking place on the field.

But hey, at least there were no punches thrown, right?

RECORD: 38-26
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Sat vs. SEA 3:55 FOX Batista vs. Wakefield