Alex Verdugo fields the ball off the center-field wall after misplaying what was scored as a two-run triple for Seattle’s Kyle Seager during the Mariners’ 8-2 win Saturday at Fenway Park. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
BOSTON — Kyle Seager singled, doubled and tripled, Sam Haggerty and Ty France also had three hits apiece, and Chris Flexen limited Boston to four hits over seven innings on Saturday to lead the Seattle Mariners to an 8-2 victory over the Red Sox.
Seager singled home a run in the first inning, tripled home two more in the second and doubled in the fifth. He had two chances to get the homer he needed to complete the cycle, but he struck out on three pitches in the seventh and popped out in foul territory in the ninth.
“The thought crossed my mind,” he said. “It’s not something you go into the game thinking about. So that was pretty cool for me. It was definitely something that gets you thinking.”
Flexen (2-1) gave up one run and struck out seven while walking one and hitting a batter. He took a two-hit shutout into the seventh before Rafael Devers doubled high off the Green Monster and scored on Marwin Gonzalez’s single to make it 5-1. Bobby Dalbec grounded out to end the threat.
It was the third time in Flexen’s four starts this season that he has allowed one or fewer runs.
“Confidence is growing every time out there with Flex,” Manager Scott Servais said. “He feels like he belongs. I love the way he’s growing.”
Nathan Eovaldi (3-2) snapped a personal three-game winning streak, allowing five runs – four earned – on seven hits in five innings. He struck out three, walked one, hit another and threw two wild pitches.
Devers doubled off the left-field wall again in the ninth to drive home Verdugo for the final run.
TROUBLE IN THE TRIANGLE
The Mariners scored three in the second inning after Haggerty singled, stole second and took third on France’s slow roller that a charging Devers couldn’t barehand. Seager followed with a high fly ball that turned center fielder Alex Verdugo around in the deepest part of the park.
The ball one-hopped the 420-foot marker, with both runs scoring before Seager chugged into third without a throw. He scored on Eovaldi’s wild pitch to make it 4-0.
Seager also scored a run in the fifth when shortstop Xander Bogaerts fumbled what could have been Taylor Trammell’s inning-ending grounder behind second base. Haggerty hit a solo homer in the eighth to make it 6-1 before Seattle tacked on two more in the ninth.
“(Seager) probably should have had a couple of homers. Those balls to center, that’s a long way out there,” Servais said. “Our offense really rolls when he’s swinging the bat that way.”
Seager, who hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning on Friday night, has five hits in his last two games to snap an 0-for-20 skid. After reports that he had purged some of his unlucky bats from his locker, Seager joked that clubhouse manager Ryan Stiles had ordered him “right-handed bats.”
“Nothing’s that weird when you’ve been around Kyle Seager,” Servais said. “He needed to clean out some garbage. Those bats that weren’t working, he got rid of those.”
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