R.A. Dickey, one step closer to his true calling of porn actor

So far so good in the Emerald City as the Red Sox took game two vs. the Mariners, 4-2, last night at Safeco Field.

Another outstanding start by a Boston (59-43) pitcher was the story. Dice-K breezed through seven scoreless innings before the Mariners (38-62) scored twice in the eighth to make it competitive.

Matsuzaka (11-1) was economical with his pitches (throwing 99 total) and lasted 7.1 innings, giving up five hits with three walks and six strikeouts.

Since winning the MVP at the All-Star game last week, J.D. Drew had been M.I.A. until last night. He drove in the first two Sox runs with a solo homer off Seattle knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (2-5) in the first and a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Drew also had a single and a walk.

Mike Lowell (2 hits, walk) doubled in Dustin Pedroia in the fifth to make it 3-0 before Jed Lowrie (hit) knocked in Manny Ramirez with a sac fly of his own.
The Mariners cut it to 4-2 in the eighth with an RBI double by Ichiro (2 walks) and an RBI single by Jose Lopez that scored Ichiro.

Hideki Okajima was put into an important situation-for the first time in ages-and he got two outs to quiet the Seattle rally in the eighth.

Jonathan Papelbon had a 1-2-3 ninth for his 30th save. He's the first Red Sox closer to record three consecutive thirty save seasons. He now has career 102 saves, third in Boston history behind the late Dick Radatz (104) and Bob Stanley (132).

A sweep will be tough to complete as the Sox have to face Mariners ace Felix Hernandez this afternoon in the series finale. Boston pitcher Clay Buchholz will try to give his team some additional momentum as they head home to face the Yankees and Angels.

A Fine Time to Visit the Worst Team in Baseball

After being swept by Oakland over the weekend and losing seven in a row overall on the road, the Boston Red Sox met a welcome sight last night: the Seattle Mariners. Currently the worst team in baseball, the Mariners (18-34) cannot hit.

Bartolo Colon pitched a gem as the Red Sox (32-22) held on for a 5-3 win. Following his steller debut, Colon (2-0) was once again on the money. He went seven innings, giving up one run on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Most impressively, he outdueled Felix Hernandez (2-5).

Hernandez matched Colon for a while before he unraveled by giving up four runs in the eighth. King Felix went 7.2 innings, he was touched up for five runs on seven hits with five walks and five strikeouts.

David Ortiz made it 1-0 Red Sox in the fourth when he hit a solo homer.

In the fifth, Ichiro made an unbelievable jumping/basket catch to rob Jason Varitek of extra bases. He finished the catch by catapaulting himself against wall, feet-first.

The Mariners tied it up in the sixth on Raul Ibanez's RBI groundout.

With two outs, Dustin Pedroia started the eighth run rally by hitting a ground-rule double that scored Julio Lugo. Manny knocked in Pedroia with an RBI single. Then Mike Lowell hit an RBI single that third baseman Adrien Beltre stopped but couldn't do anything with. Finally, Varitek walked with the bases full.

Up 5-1 in the ninth, Jonathan Papelbon was inserted to get some work in but he almost blew it. It all started when he overthrew first baseman Sean Casey on a groundball. Later, Ichiro hit an RBI single and Kenji Johjima scored on a wild pitch. With Ichiro on third, Papelbon ended it on his 25th pitch as he got Jose Lopez to ground to second.