By ,
Published May 03, 2016
Seattle, WA (SportsNetwork.com) - Nelson Cruz drove Brad Miller home with a single in the ninth inning to lift the Seattle Mariners to a 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Tom Wilhelmsen (1-0) grabbed the win for a scoreless top of the ninth.
"It was a great win," said Cruz. "I think the pitching is really doing a good job."
Miller reached on an infield single off Tommy Layne (0-1) with one out and advanced to second on a groundout by Robinson Cano.
Junichi Tazawa relieved Layne and Cruz slapped a single to deep right that scored the winning run.
"That's a terrible decision on my part," Red Sox manager John Farrell said of not intentionally walking Cruz. "I own that one. We had a base open."
Xander Bogaerts drove in the game's first run with a triple that plated Shane Victorino in the second inning.
Boston had runners on the corners with two outs in the fourth when Mike Napoli got caught stealing home after a pickoff attempt to first by J.A. Happ.
Smith's solo homer with two outs in the sixth was Seattle's first hit of Boston starter Clay Buchholz since Cano's double in the first.
Bogaerts led off the eighth with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt but he was stranded in scoring position.
Game Notes
Buchholz scattered three hits with 11 strikeouts over eight innings ... Happ allowed one run on five hits in seven innings for Seattle.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/mariners-edge-red-sox