SEATTLE (AP) — Steve Cishek cost Seattle yet again, and now he might be done as the Mariners’ closer.
Mookie Betts homered off Cishek to lead off the ninth inning, Craig Kimbrel got his 18th save in his return from knee surgery and the Boston Red Sox beat James Paxton and the Mariners 2-1 on Monday night.
Paxton held Boston to a run and four hits over eight innings before Betts hit his 22nd homer off Cishek (2-6), who blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning Sunday in a 7-6 loss to the Cubs.
“Obviously, Steve has struggled the last couple times out. We probably need to look where we’re headed– in the short-term anyway — to get him back on track,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
Seattle may turn over closing duties to hard-throwing rookie right-hander Edwin Diaz.
“We’ll talk about it,” Servais said. “We’ll probably take the gas off a little bit and try to get (Cishek) in some better spots, and maybe not when the game is on the line all the time, and get it back going again.”
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Kimbrel made his first appearance since having surgery to repair a medial meniscus tear in his left knee. He allowed a walk, and Kyle Seager reached on a third-strike wild pitch, but Kimbrel got two other strikeouts to end it.
“That’s my job,” Kimbrel said. “I like save situations. It worked out nice.”
Aaron Hill homered off Paxton in the eighth to tie the game 1-1.
Junichi Tazawa (2-1) got the win with a scoreless eighth after Eduardo Rodriguez held Seattle to a run and three hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Rodriguez held the Mariners to three baserunners in the first six innings, and only one of his first 19 outs even left the infield.
Paxton retired the first seven batters until Sandy Leon’s one-out single in the third. Hanley Ramirez singled in the fifth and Betts was the first player to reach second with a two-out double in the sixth. All failed to advance.
Dae-Ho Lee’s run-scoring double with one out in the seventh chased Rodriguez, who allowed three hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Robbie Ross Jr. took over and hit Seager with a pitch to load the bases with one out. He then struck out Franklin Gutierrez and Chris Iannetta.
Paxton had six strikeouts and no walks.
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