Red Sox Edge Mariners 9-8 in Fenway Slugfest as DarkHorse Cashes

The Red Sox survived a wild one at Fenway, outlasting Seattle 9-8 in a game that looked nothing like the pitching clinic we anticipated. DarkHorse's Red Sox -166 pick still cashed, but not remotely how we drew it up.

Payton Tolle, the "genuinely elite arm" we touted with his 3.09 ERA and 10.13 K/9? Yeah, he got lit up. Turns out that Mariners lineup averaging 2.0 runs per game in the season series suddenly remembered how to swing the bat, hanging eight runs on Boston's pitching staff. So much for that anemic .70 OPS crew rolling over quietly.

George Kirby wasn't much better on Seattle's side, proving our "below-average and hittable" scouting report accurate as the Red Sox offense did exactly what we expected—they just had to score nine to get there. Boston's bats delivered at home, continuing their 6.67 R/G Fenway surge over the last six, but they needed every single run.

The win's a win, and we'll take the cash, but let's be honest: this was a backyard beer-league slugfest, not the dominant pitching performance we sold you. Sometimes you get there ugly. Red Sox backers don't care—they're counting money either way.