SEATTLE - Denard Span's pinch-hit double in the eighth inning scored two runs, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 7-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
Span, hitting for Guillermo Heredia with one out, hit a liner to the right-field corner after Ryon Healy walked and Ben Gamel singled to left.
Rob Whalen pitched four scoreless innings of relief for Seattle. Ryan Cook (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless eighth inning and Edwin Diaz earned his major league-leading 26th save by working the ninth.
Matt Barnes (0-2) took the loss.
Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run homer as part of a six-run third inning that gave Boston a 6-3 lead, but a spectacular defensive play by Seattle second baseman Dee Gordon on a hard-hit ball up the middle by Bogaerts that ended the sixth inning kept Boston from adding another run.
The Mariners led 3-0 when Boston sent 11 men to the plate and had six hits and walk to chase starter James Paxton. The Mariners also committed two errors in the inning.
Paxton entered the game with a 0.39 ERA and 2-0 record in three previous starts against the Red Sox. Five of the six runs against Paxton were earned. He also threw two wild pitches.
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Boston tied the game at 3 on four singles and an error by third basemen Kyle Seager, before Bogaerts hit his 11th home run.
Jean Segura gave the Mariners a 1-0 lead in the first inning when he launched Rick Porcello's fastball over the scoreboard in left field, a 420-foot shot.
Seattle made it 3-0 in the second inning. After back-to-back singles put runners at first and third, Gamel hit a one-hopper to Porcello, who turned and got the force at second. But Bogaerts' throw back to the plate was too late to get Seager, who raced home from third.
Gamel stole second before scoring on Mike Zunino's single that bounced off the bag at third and behind third baseman Rafael Devers.
Zunino hit his 11th home run of the season to start the bottom of the seventh and cut it to 6-5.