Seattle Slain
Aaron Cook pitched like a latter-day Derek Lowe in his complete game shutout of the Mariners. He threw a mere 81 pitches, struck out two, and had no walks. Only Ichiro Suzuki and and John Jaso managed hits off the sinkerballer. Dustin Ackley reached base on a fielding error by Mike Aviles in the sixth.
While the Mariners offense was feeble the Red Sox bats proved formidable. Hector Noesi was Felix Hernandez-like for four innings but then Will Middlebrooks and Cody Ross smacked back-to-back home runs to lead off the fifth. Noesi avoided the fate of Chase Wright and got the next two Boston batters out, but Daniel Nava lofted the third four-bagger of the inning.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia added to the lead and to his All-Star resume with a two-run shot in the sixth. He homered in David Ortiz, who has yet to hit his 400th home run. With just four games left on this road trip he may as well wait for the team’s return to Fenway. It would be fitting to hit such a momentous shot off whichever replacement-level starter the Yankees scraped up with the injuries to C.C. Sabathia and Andy Pettitte.
| Game 77: June 29, 2012 | ||
 Boston Red Sox41-36 |
5 |
W: Aaron Cook (2-1) |
| 2B: David Ortiz (24), Mike Aviles (20) HR: Will Middlebrooks (10), Cody Ross (12), Daniel Nava (3), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (15) | ||
| Seattle Mariners 33-46 |
0 |
L: Hector Noesi (2-10) |
| No extra base hits | ||
