BOSTON -- Rocked in the afternoon by the stunning news that their manager, John Farrell, had been diagnosed with cancer and wouldn't manage again for the remainder of the season, the Red Sox responded with one of their strongest games of the season, pounding out 21 hits and running roughshod over the Seattle Mariners, 15-1.
The Mariners went ahead 1-0 two batters into the game when Kyle Seager homered off Joe Kelly, but the Sox then responded with 15 unanswered runs.
Nine Red Sox players had multiple-hit games, with Pablo Sandoval Travis Shaw and Jackie Bradley Jr. collecting three hits each. Shaw, Brock Holt and Sandoval each had three RBI to lead the Red Sox.
Every starter, in fact, except Xander Bogaerts -- who went into the game with the highest batting average among Red Sox regulars -- had at least one hit.
Rusney Castillo, who would later leave the game with a left-foot contusion, cranked a two-run homer into the Red Sox bullpen in the first.
Travis Shaw homered into the bullpen in the third, part of the Red Sox' six-run inning, then added a solo shot -- again, into the bullpen, though this time, the visitor's -- in the eighth for his second two-homer game of the season.
In all, the Sox scored in seven of their eight innings and had just one 1-2-3 inning on the night.
Boston Red Sox
Kelly, who allowed three of the first five hitters he faced to reach base -- one on a homer, two by walk -- was terrific after the rocky first, allowing just three more hits -- all doubles -- in the five innings that followed.