After 'soft' showing, M's strive for better effort vs. Red Sox

The Seattle Mariners and host Boston Red Sox will look to generate more offense when the teams open a three-game series on Monday night.

Seattle has been outscored 25-4 during a four-game losing streak. The Mariners were held to one hit -- Cal Raleigh's double with two outs in the fourth inning -- during Sunday's 7-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

"We all need to be better," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said. "It (was) a tough series. We need to make our improvements. Logan (Gilbert) gave us a chance; just weren't able to do anything offensively. Bottom line is all of us need to be better.

"We weren't able to get baserunners and put up any kind of an offensive threat, so it was just kind of a soft game all day."

Boston is coming off Sunday's 16-1 loss to the New York Yankees. The Red Sox have dropped four of their last five games and have been limited to three runs in the four losses.

A controversial call that went against the Red Sox seemed to send them into a tailspin on Sunday.

With a runner at first base in the fifth inning of a scoreless game, New York's Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a sinking line drive to center field. First base umpire Edwin Moscoso ruled the ball hit the ground before Ceddanne Rafaela could make the catch, and that decision stood following replay review. The Yankees went on to score five runs in the inning.

"From watching it on video, it looks like he caught the ball," Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. "Then again, I feel like it's one of those plays where you're kind of at the mercy of what they call on the field, which stinks because if they call him out -- and I do think he caught the ball -- they're probably going to go to review and gonna be unable to overturn it.

"If they call it a no catch because you can't see ... then we're at the mercy of what the call on the field is. It's frustrating."

The good news for Boston? Outfielder Roman Anthony and shortstop Trevor Story returned to the lineup Sunday following lengthy absences due to injuries.

Anthony went 2-for-4, including a ground-rule double in his first at-bat. Story went 2-for-3, including a double in the top of the eighth. Anthony had not played since May 4 due to a hand/wrist injury. Story missed more than three months with a sports hernia.

Monday's probable pitchers are Seattle right-hander George Kirby (9-10, 4.02 ERA) and Boston left-hander Payton Tolle (8-6, 3.09).

Kirby is 2-1 with a 3.21 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox. He struck out nine and allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings during his last start, a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.

Tolle lost his lone career start vs. the Mariners, permitting three runs on six hits in six innings on June 21.

He is 4-0 in his last nine starts, but he settled for a no-decision last Tuesday despite allowing two runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings against the Miami Marlins in a game Boston won 7-3 in 11 innings.

--Field Level Media