The Boston Red Sox obviously didn’t generate any momentum from Sunday’s extra-inning win over the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum.
The Red Sox completely flopped in Monday’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners. John Lackey lasted just 3 2/3 innings as Logan Morrison and the Mariners cruised to a 12-3 win at Safeco Field.
Let’s go over some notes from Monday’s lopsided tilt.
— Lackey’s outing was his shortest since Sept. 9, 2011. The right-hander, of course, made three more starts after that outing before missing the entire 2012 season with Tommy John surgery.
The good news in this instance is that Lackey said after the game he feels fine physically despite surrendering seven earned runs on seven hits in his worst start of the season. He also sounds ready to turn the page, especially since six of Seattle’s runs came in the fourth inning.
“I’m not going to panic over one inning,” Lackey said. “I think we’ll be all right.”
Lackey, who threw just 74 pitches, had allowed eight runs over 45 innings (1.60 ERA) in his previous six starts combined.
— Felix Hernandez allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings. He struck out six and didn’t walk anyone while throwing 95 pitches.
— Chris Capuano’s struggles continued, adding fuel to the speculation that the Red Sox could consider designating him for assignment amid their roster crunch.
Capuano allowed five earned runs on six hits over 2 1/3 innings.
Capuano owns an 8.64 ERA over his last 16 appearances (16 earned runs in 16 2/3 innings) since starting the season with a 15-inning scoreless streak. The left-hander, whose season ERA now is 4.55, failed to record a single out in three of those outings.
“I’m working hard before the games, throwing off the mound almost every day. Just haven’t quite been able to take what I’ve been working on into the games,” Capuano said after Monday’s game, according to WEEI.com. “Ball’s up, I’m not pounding the bottom of the zone. It seems like I’m falling behind a lot and then leaving balls over the middle. The command just hasn’t been there. It’s frustrating that I’m not able to take what I’m doing before the games into the games.”
— Morrison — aka LoMo — entered the game hitting .164. He went 4-for-4 with two homers and reached base five times.
— Mike Napoli homered for the second straight game. His fourth-inning home run was the first long ball surrendered by Hernandez since April 21.
— Brock Holt went 0-for-4 atop the order.
— Xander Bogaerts went 0-for-4 and is now hitting .096 (5-for-52) over his last 14 games.
— Stephen Drew went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He’s now hitless in his last 18 at-bats, lowering his average to .143 (6-for-42)
— A.J. Pierzynski, who went 0-for-3, is hitting .158 (9-for-57) in June.
— Shane Victorino went 0-for-3 at Single-A Lowell. He’s expected to play Tuesday at Triple-A Pawtucket, after which he’ll be reevaluated before a determination is made on whether he’ll rejoin the Red Sox in New York.
— Will Middlebrooks was scratched from Pawtucket’s lineup with swelling in his fractured right index finger.
