With jobs potentially on the line, Red Sox pitching struggles in loss to Mariners - The Boston Globe (2025)

Even Kutter Crawford, who didn’t pitch in spring training because of a knee injury, has started to ramp back up.

For pitchers such as Sean Newcomb, Brennan Bernardino, and Josh Winckowski, job security could be fleeting as changes will come to the rotation and filter down to the bullpen in the coming weeks.

All three struggled on Wednesday night in a slow-paced 8-5 loss against the Seattle Mariners.

Many in the crowd of 31,904 at Fenway Park were headed for home before the game ended as Seattle amassed 13 hits and drew five walks.

Winckowski needed 43 pitches to record three outs in the seventh inning alone as he allowed two runs.

Emerson Hancock (1-1) allowed two runs over six innings for the victory.

Newcomb (0-3) allowed four runs on eight hits over five innings to take the loss. The lefthander struck out eight, his most since Sept. 26, 2018, when he fanned eight Mets while a member of the Braves.

But he also needed 97 pitches to get through those five innings.

“Usually it’s pretty manageable and I’ve gotten a good amount of double plays this year,” Newcomb said.

Newcomb pitched well against the Rays last Wednesday, working 4⅔ scoreless innings in a game the Sox won, 1-0.

But he was not the same pitcher against the Mariners.

Seattle put 10 runners on base over the first four innings and took a 4-0 lead.

Mitch Garver had a two-out RBI single in the first inning.

Seattle loaded the bases with no outs in the second and Newcomb escaped. Dylan Moore lined to first baseman Triston Casas, who jogged to the bag to double off J.P. Crawford. Newcomb then struck out Julio Rodriguez.

The lefthander ran out of good fortune in the fourth inning.

Ben Williamson and Leo Rivas singled before Crawford pounded a hanging breaking ball 386 feet into the Red Sox bullpen for his first home run of the season and first in 177 at-bats dating to last July 14.

Both Rivas and Crawford hit two-strike pitches.

“That was the story,” Sox manager Alex Cora said.

In his first career appearance against the Red Sox, Hancock allowed two runs on five hits over six innings.

The 25-year-old former first-round pick took a two-hit shutout into the fourth inning before he walked Trevor Story and Casas with two outs. Romy Gonzalez singled to right field to drive in Story before Blake Sabol struck out.

Ceddanne Rafaela singled to open the bottom of the fifth inning and took third on Jarren Duran’s double to left field. Rafael Devers drove in a run with a ground out.

As the crowd showed some life, Duran was stranded at third as Bregman grounded out and Abreu popped up.

Seattle added two more runs in the sixth inning against Bernardino, who could have been out of the inning if not for fumbling a ball back to the mound, then throwing it away.

“We make the play we’re out of that inning,” Cora said. “It didn’t happen.”

Down 8-2 in the eighth inning, the Sox got a three-run Pesky Pole home run from Casas but could get no closer.

Down 0-2 in the count, Casas lined a fastball from Casey Legumina over the short fence beyond the pole.

“I felt like first [pitch] was down, the second was just a little up,” Casas said. “Like the porridge, the last one was just right.”

Casas has homered in back-to-back games and driven in six runs, giving him 10 on the season. But he is 2 for 48 (.041) facing starting pitchers. Their porridge has been hot.

The series finale is Thursday afternoon with Garrett Crochet facing Bryan Woo. The Sox are 4-1 in games started by Crochet, who has a 1.13 earned run average.

Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.