BOSTON — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 8-3 win over the Mariners here at Fenway Park on Tuesday:
1)Triston Casas entered 12-for-76 (.158) with a .229 on-base percentage, .237 slugging percentage, .466 OPS, one homer, three doubles and four RBIs. But he smashed a huge three-run home run in the seventh inning to give Boston a 7-3 lead. He connected on a curveball that Mariners reliever Trent Thornton left over the middle of the plate and sent it 396 feet to center field.
2)Alex Bregman is a historically slow starter with a .754 career OPS in March/April. His second lowest OPS by month in his career is .818 (May). But Bregman is off to a fastball start in 2025 and he continued it Tuesday with an RBI double to left field to give Boston a 2-1 lead in the third inning. Bregman then ripped a two-run double to left-center field to make it 4-1 in the fifth inning.
3) Brayan Bello made his 2025 debut after beginning the season on the 15-day IL (right shoulder strain). He allowed one run, four hits and three walks while striking out three and hitting two batters in 5 innings. Jorge Polanco crushed a 407-foot solo homer in the first inning for the only run against him.
Bello threw 38 sinkers, averaging 95.1 mph and topping out at 97.3 mph, per Statcast. He also mixed in 36 sliders, 17 changeups and six four-seam fastballs. He recorded seven swings and misses: four with his slider, two with his changeup and one with his sinker.
4) Bello landed only 51 of his 97 pitches (52.6%) for strikes but he made pitches when he needed to make them, especially to the final two batters he faced.
He fell behind 2-0 in the count against power-hitting left-handed hitter Cal Raleigh with two runners on base and one out in the fifth inning. But he got Raleigh to fly out to left field on a 2-1 changeup for the second out. He fell behind 3-1 in the count to Randy Arozarena but struck him out swinging on a 3-2 slider.
5) Jarren Duran tied for the major league in triples last year with 14. He had only one this season entering Tuesday. But he hit a bullet (106.4 mph off the bat) into the right field corner to lead off the bottom of the first inning, sprinted into third base. He then scored to make it 1-1 on Rafael Devers’ 357-foot sacrifice fly to right field.
6) Bello helped himself escape a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first inning with some nice defense. He stretched out fully to catch shortstop Trevor Story’s throw while covering first base, then dropped to the dirt on a 3-6-1 double play to end the inning.
7) Liam Hendriks pitched a perfect ninth inning in his second relief outing of the season.
8) The Red Sox and Mariners will play again Wednesday. Red Sox lefty Sean Newcomb (0-2, 3.63 ERA) will start opposite Mariners righty Emerson Hancock (0-1, 12.71 ERA).
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