BOSTON — Marco Scutaro’s second two-run single gave Boston the lead for good and John Lackey pitched eight strong innings to lead the Red Sox to a 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on a windy, drizzly Monday night.
Adrian Beltre and J.D. Drew both had two singles for the Red Sox, who won their third straight after their most lopsided loss of the season last Friday.
Chone Figgins had three singles for the Mariners, who lost their third straight after dropping the final two of a weekend series in Yankee Stadium.
The teams combined for 17 hits — all singles — as a stiff 19-mph wind blowing from center field knocked down any hard-hit flyballs.
Lackey (12-7) gave up three runs — two earned — and six hits, striking out 10 and walking two in best his start since he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning at Seattle on July 22.
Jonathan Papelbon got the final three outs for his 31st save.
Doug Fister (4-9) gave up five runs — two earned — with one walk and six strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings.
Steady rain was in the area for most the day, but ended just before the first pitch. The game started on time and was played in spotty drizzle, with Fenway Park only about two-thirds full as many of the 37,133 — the 614th straight sellout — decided to stay away.
Scutaro’s second two-run single broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh. Jed Lowrie and Daniel Nava opened the inning with singles and advanced on Ryan Kalish’s sacrifice. Scutaro later scored on Victor Martinez’s sacrifice fly.
The Mariners moved ahead 1-0 in the third when second baseman Lowrie misplayed Figgins’ infield single and was charged with an error on the same play as the ball bounced behind him, allowing Ryan Langerhans to race around from second.
Boston took advantage of Langerhans’ error and scored three unearned runs off Fister in the fifth. Beltre singled leading off and Lowrie reached second on an error when his fly ball down the left field line ticked off Langerhans’ glove, bounced off the track and his body before going into the stands. Kalish walked to load the bases before Scutaro had a two-out, two-run single. Drew followed with an RBI single, making it 3-1.
The Mariners loaded the bases on two singles and Lackey’s error on Franklin Gutierrez’s slow roller before Casey Kotchman tied it 3-3 with a two-run single to right in the sixth.
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