BOSTON — It didn’t take long for interim manager Torey Lovullo to get second guessed.
He had to answer why David Ortiz was still on second base with the Red Sox trailing by a run and the bases loaded in the ninth.
MONDAY'S GAME
WHO: Red Sox (Barnes 3-2) vs. Cleveland Indians (Salazar 10-6)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
TELEVISION: NESN
Boston tied the game, but Ortiz was thrown out at home going for the winning run and Mike Zunino and Kyle Seager each had RBI singles in the 12th inning to lift the Mariners to a 10-8 win over the Red Sox on Sunday.
“I know hindsight is 20-20,” Lovullo said. “As it turns out, it looks like that should have been the move. But I’ll live by what I did today, because I just didn’t want to take David Ortiz out of this lineup.”
Trailing 8-6, Xander Bogaerts’ run-scoring grounder cut it to one. Ortiz was then walked intentionally with a runner on second and Rusney Castillo followed with an infield hit. Travis Shaw drove in Brock Holt with a bases-loaded single to left, but Ortiz was cut down at the plate by Seth Smith’s throw.
“I’m sure he’s just going to tell me he was trusting his instincts and was forcing them to make a play,” Lovullo said of third base coach Brian Butterfield. “It was a short hop in the outfield, it was a couple of short-hops throw at home plate, and they executed the game plan.”
Bogaerts and Castillo homered for the Red Sox. Holt had three hits and scored three times. Shaw also had three hits.
“That’s really the theme for me today, is that we chipped away at a 7-0 lead and had a chance to win that ballgame,” Lovullo said.
Lovullo took over Friday when Manager John Farrell announced that he was taking a medical leave for the rest of the season to deal with lymphoma.
The Mariners got off to a fast start, building a 7-0 lead against rookie left-hander Henry Owens.
Owens, making his third big league start, allowed seven runs and 10 hits in six innings. He struck out 10 and walked one.
Franklin Gutierrez homered twice and drove in four runs as Seattle rebounded from an ugly start to the series despite blowing a seven-run lead.
The Mariners gave up 15 or more runs in consecutive games for the first time in team history while dropping the first two games against Boston by a combined 37-11 score. Boston scored 22 runs on 26 hits in Saturday’s victory.
Rob Rasmussen (2-1) worked two scoreless innings. Danny Farquhar got the final three outs for his first save.
Seattle also got five hits and three RBI from Robinson Cano, and Nelson Cruz connected for his major league-leading 36th homer.
Austin Jackson and Mark Trumbo opened the 12th with singles off Craig Breslow (0-3). Logan Morrison reached when Breslow bobbled his bunt for an error. With the infield in, Zunino then lined a single over the head of shortstop Bogaerts. Seager then lined a single to right.
Cano homered over the bullpens in the first, and Gutierrez followed with a drive about 20 rows deep into the center field bleachers.
In the third, Cano had an RBI single and Gutierrez homered into Boston’s bullpen, making it 7-0.
The Red Sox chipped away by scoring four times over the next three innings.
Bogaerts homered over the Green Monster in the third, and Castillo had a leadoff drive in the fourth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: LHP Charlie Furbush of South Portland, on the DL with left biceps tendinitis, had a bullpen session, but didn’t see improvement. “We’re sending him back to Seattle to see the doctor,” Manager Lloyd McClendon said.
Red Sox: 3B Pablo Sandoval was out with a bruised right elbow after getting hit by a pitch Saturday. … OF Hanley Ramirez missed his sixth straight game with a bruised left foot.
BIG WEEKEND
The Red Sox had 60 hits in the series, the most for the franchise in any three-game set since the 1950 team had 62 against the St. Louis Browns.
BENCH COACH
Lovullo said the team will make bullpen coach Dana LeVangie the bench coach on Monday.
Lovullo also said Triple-A pitching coach Bob Kipper will be moved up from Pawtucket to be the bullpen coach.
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