Mitch Haniger homers in return, but Red Sox spoil Opening Day in Seattle, 6-4

Rafael Devers and Boston cracked “The Rock” – the All-Star third baseman crushed an early homer and the Red Sox pounced on Mariners ace Luis Castillo to spoil Seattle’s Opening Day festivities, 6-4, behind five solid innings from 24-year-old righty Brayan Bello.

Strong enough to swat Castillo’s third-inning, outer-edge sinker the opposite way, Devers’ two-run shot traveled 400 feet into Seattle’s bullpen behind the left field wall. The energy from a sold-out crowd of 45,337 fell mostly quiet. And Boston held on to defeat the Mariners, Seattle’s first loss on Opening Day since 2020.

“161 to go,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Unfortunately, we aren’t going to win them all.

“We will play a lot of games this year. And there will be some that’ll be fun and exciting, and we’ll come back and win. Tonight, we just didn’t quite have enough.”

Mitch Haniger homered in his homecoming game, a storybook moment for Seattle’s returning right fielder. Dylan Moore smoked a pinch-hit, two-run homer to center field in the seventh. Yet Boston never relinquished their lead.

Boston extended an early, two-run lead in the top of the fourth inning, when Caddanne Rafaela grounded into a fielder’s choice with runners on the corners. Mariners third baseman Josh Rojas fired home in an attempt to nail a sprinting Tyler O’Neill at home – but the throw plunked O’Neill in the helmet, who instead scored on a throwing error.

Haniger’s two-run blast to right field in the fourth inning cut Seattle’s deficit to one; so did Moore’s in the sixth.

“I worked a lot in the off-season on swing path... came into spring feeling good, and it carried over tonight,” Haniger said.

Boston threatened again when Castillo walked the bases loaded with one out in the fifth inning; Boston’s Triston Casas bounced a grounder to second baseman Jorge Polanco, but the Mariners couldn’t turn two. The Red Sox grabbed another run, 4-2.

In the sixth, Rafaela tripled off Seattle’s Tayler Saucedo, and scored on Connor Wong’s RBI single to right.

Once Moore cut Seattle’s deficit back to one, O’Neill lifted a solo homer to center in the eighth inning for Red Sox insurance.

Castillo surrendered six hits and four earned runs across five innings. He struck out five and walked two.

Bello whiffed two and walked none, allowing five hits and two earned runs on Haniger’s homer.

WELCOME BACK, MITCH HANIGER

It’s like he never left.

Mitch Haniger’s return to Seattle began with a pregame standing ovation and soon featured a storybook, fourth-inning home run that put the Mariners within one.

Scorched on a line to right field, Boston’s Tyler O’Neill turned, bolted back, and finally gave up. Haniger pointed to the dugout and rounded the bases. The two-run shot traveled some 372 feet and plated Seattle’s first pair of runs in 2024.

“I looked forward to this moment a lot,” Haniger said Thursday night. “I’m extremely grateful they brought me back.”

Julio Rodriguez, J.P. Crawford, and the handful of Seattle standouts earned deserved pregame ovations, announced one by one in Opening Day festivities prior to first pitch – but no player rocked the crowd like ‘Hanny.’

“It’s funny how things work,” Haniger said.

It was his first official appearance since rejoining the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Haniger signed a three-year contract with the San Francisco Giants after the 2022 season, only to be traded back to Seattle after one season.

His presence in a young clubhouse pays equal dividends off the field as it does on, Servais said.

“Some people have termed it… he’s a robot at times,” Servais began. “Just how peculiar he is with his preparation. I think he’s at the point in his career where he’s willing to share more than he ever has in the past. I think it’s for two reasons: one, I think he knows he has a loud voice in our clubhouse for as long as he’s played in the league. And he wants to win.

“He’s very comfortable being back here. He also sees the work ethic of the teammates around him, and it’s right there matching his, which I know is something that he is really excited about. Because it hasn’t always been that way. Players know players. Players are going to listen to players more than they ever listen to coaches or managers.”

Haniger finished 2-for-3 with Thursday’s homer and a walk.

NELSON CRUZ, SEATTLE MARINER FOR LIFE

Nelson Cruz regularly transformed bats into “Boomsticks.” For more than a decade, he was the league’s most feared designated hitter, both a seven-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger across 19 major league seasons.

In late-2014, Seattle inked the free-agent Cruz to a four-year deal. The rest is history. He mashed 163 home runs and slashed .284/.362/.546 across 606 career games in a Mariners uniform, and turned broadcaster Dave Sims’ classic “Boomstick, baby!” catchphrase after every home run into household-known fixture.

Now, he’s a Mariner forever.

Cruz lofted Thursday’s ceremonial first pitch to Mariners legend Felix Hernandez, then joined Mariners chairman John Stanton behind home plate to ink a one-day contract with the club, allowing him to retire with Seattle.

Even if Cruz announced his decision to retire from MLB last November, this ties the final knot.

“I always identified myself with the Mariners,” Cruz told reporters before the festivities. “Even though I played more years (eight total) with the Rangers. Everything about Seattle… when I used to come as a visitor, it was my favorite place to come. When I was playing here, it was the place where I felt comfortable playing the game.”

How comfortable was Cruz in Seattle? He moved to the mountains of the Dominican Republic for a daily reminder of the dreary Northwest weather: “The beautiful weather in Seattle… It’s weird, but this is the weather that I like.”

Cruz, 43, totaled 2,053 career hits, 464 home runs, and 1,325 career RBI. He was MLB’s home run leader in 2014, the Roberto Clemente Award winner in 2021, and was an All-MLB first-team selection in 2019.

It’s never easy to hang up the cleats, but Cruz found peace in his decision after his release from the San Diego Padres last July 10 cut his 2023 season short. But there was no chance Cruz would walk away from the sport entirely. He represented the Dominican Republic in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and served as the team’s general manager, and still communicates and kindles friendships with dozens of current players.

In 2016, Cruz formed the Boomstick23 Foundation, a non-profit that develops “skills and abilities through education and sports to improve the environment and quality of life.” The Mariners organization donated 40 computers to Cruz’s foundation, helping the former slugger build a computer center that allows those in his home city of Las Matas de Santa Cruz, Dominican Republic to study and work toward careers such as plumbing and electrician work, Cruz said.

“It’s been crazy. I’m more busy now than when I was playing,” smiled Cruz.