Seattle rookie Furbush tames Red Sox
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SEATTLE (Reuters) - Rookie pitcher Charlie Furbush outclassed his far more seasoned opponent in Tim Wakefield to guide the Seattle Mariners to a 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox Sunday.
Furbush allowed just four hits and one run in his seven innings to win his second game for the Mariners (52-67) since being acquired in a trade with Detroit last month.
Seattle has promoted Furbush from a reliever to a starter, but he looked more than comfortable in beating 45-year-old Wakefield who was chasing his 200th career win.
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"Definitely having been here a couple weeks, it's been pretty comfortable and getting to know the guys and everything around here has just been good," Furbush told reporters. "It's a pitcher's ballpark (here), so I can't complain about that."
Boston's Wakefield (6-5) allowed three runs in the third to fall behind 3-0, and Seattle's Casper Wells blasted a homer off the knuckleball pitcher in the sixth to give the Mariners a 5-1 advantage.
Wells, who also scored two runs on the day, arrived to Seattle in the same trade that brought Furbush and has three home runs since joining the team.
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The Mariners have the lowest batting average in baseball, but have heated up a little with 24 runs in their last five games.
Boston's Kevin Youkilis returned from a two-game absence from a back injury to deliver a two-run homer for the Red Sox in the eighth, but the American League leaders would get no closer.
Seattle closer Brandon League appeared in the ninth to record his 29th save of the season and the Mariners took two wins from Boston in their three-game series.
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Wakefield completed eight innings in the loss and Boston (73-46) had their AL East lead trimmed to half a game over New York after the Yankees had their Sunday game postponed due to rain.
AL batting leader Adrian Gonzalez had two hits for the Red Sox, but the rest of his team mates had little success against the young Furbush.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Ian Ransom)