Back home in Seattle, Dalbec homers again

SEATTLE -- Back in Seattle, where he grew up a Mariners fan, Red Sox first baseman Bobby Dalbec has made himself at home at T-Mobile Park this weekend.

Though the Red Sox took a tough 7-6 loss on Saturday night in a game they were one strike away from winning, Dalbec nearly helped lift his team to victory for the second straight night.

With two outs in the top of the ninth, Dalbec fell behind in the count, 0-2, to Mariners righty Paul Sewald. Dalbec worked his way back into the count, then swatted the eighth pitch of the at-bat -- a 2-2 slider -- over the left-field wall for a homer.

With family and friends in the stands, Dalbec had seized the moment for the second game in a row.

On Friday, Dalbec swatted a homer to lead off the seventh, giving the Red Sox the lead for good in a game they held on to win, 4-3.

Dalbec got off to a slow start for the second season in a row, but he has come on strong of late. All five of Dalbec’s home runs this year have broken a tie.

“Real good,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Dalbec’s latest clutch blast. “He fouled off some tough pitches, fastballs up in the zone, and then he got a hanging slider and he put a good swing on it. He’s in a much better place. I think his timing is a lot better. He’s on time, and he’s able to hit fastballs and lay off some pitches.

"On time" have been the buzzwords for Dalbec in his first two full seasons in the Majors. With a big, lanky body, he has a lot of moving parts, making his timing a challenge at times.

When Dalbec is timing things well, he can be a dangerous hitter.

“That was a big swing for us,” Cora said. “He was in control of the at-bat.”

Last season, Dalbec smashed 25 homers and was the American League’s Rookie of the Month in August. His recent surge suggests more good things are coming.

In Dalbec’s first 107 at-bats through May 25, he had a line of .159/.248/.234 with one homer and six RBIs. It has been a much different story since May 26. In his past 46 at-bats, he is slashing .304/.353/.609 with four homers and 10 RBIs.

The next step in Dalbec’s development will be to shorten the slumps and be a more consistent hitter.

The excitement in Boston’s dugout for Dalbec’s homer quickly evaporated in the bottom of the ninth, when the Mariners charged back for two runs and won the game on an RBI single to left-center field by Dylan Moore.

Why Robles and not Houck?
While Hansel Robles (3.20 ERA) has been a pretty good setup man for the Red Sox this season, the ninth inning has not been his friend. Saturday marked his fourth blown save in six opportunities.

With emerging bullpen force Tanner Houck getting the save on Friday, was Cora tempted to go with him again on Saturday?

“We decided he wasn’t available before the game, so that’s why you didn’t see it,” Cora said. “We talked about it, and obviously the decision is not only me, it’s the whole group. He hasn’t pitched back to back. That’s something we have to get him ready for, and to push him right away doesn’t make sense.”

As for Robles, he was the victim of some misfortune. Needing only one more strike to end the game, Robles gave up a game-tying bloop single to Abraham Toro that had an exit velocity of 68.7 mph, per Statcast. Not even defensive stud Jackie Bradley Jr. could get a glove on it in center.

“It was in the Bermuda Triangle,” Bradley said.

Why was Cora so mad in the top of the first?
In the top of the first inning, Rafael Devers hit a mammoth two-run homer to right and took his time as he rounded the bases. On the next pitch, Mariners starter George Kirby went up and in with a 96.2 mph ball to J.D. Martinez.

Cora got irate, yelling at home-plate umpire Laz Diaz and then shouting, “That’s two,” to Mariners manager Scott Servais.

What did Cora mean by his comment?

On Friday night, after Dalbec’s homer, Rob Refsnyder was drilled on the left shoulder on the fifth pitch of his at-bat on a 100.9 mph heater by flamethrowing righty Andrés Munóz.

“You have to protect your players, and I get them protecting their players, too. It’s part of the heat of the battle, right? It’s something we didn’t like, but we kept playing,” Cora said. “It didn’t affect the game. I get Scott’s point, and I know he gets mine. No big deal.”