Connelly Early settles in as Red Sox clinch a series victory of AL West-leading Mariners

SEATTLE — Nine pitches into his evening, Connelly Early already was on the brink, with two runners on, no outs, and one of the Mariners’ most dangerous hitters, Julio Rodríguez, ahead in the count, 2-and-0.

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It was ripe for getting ugly fast. So catcher Carlos Narváez made the unusual, if merited, move of an extremely early mound visit.

The next pitch yielded the first out. The next batter, Josh Naylor, singled — the last hit and only run allowed by Early, who recovered to toss six innings in the Red Sox’ 5-1 win.

For the Sox, it was a second win in a row, clinching a series victory over the American League West leaders.

For Early, it was a significant rebound from the worst three-start stretch of his career, a dozen runs in 14⅔ innings. His velocity was up, and his effectiveness went with it. Beginning in the second, he retired 13 of 14 batters. He finished with seven strikeouts, one shy of his season high.

Despite some wildness — two walks and hitting three batters — Early lowered his ERA to 3.64.

Righthander Emerson Hancock presented major problems early for the Red Sox, who didn’t put a runner on base through the first three frames. But they broke through in a big way over the back half of his outing, totaling five runs in 5⅓ innings.

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First came the power: Wilyer Abreu crushed a two-run home run to center in the fourth inning, putting the Sox ahead.

Then came the peskiness: Their three-run rally in the sixth featured just one ball hit out of the infield.

Masataka Yoshida’s single and walks from Abreu (eight pitches) and Willson Contreras (four pitches) loaded the bases with one out — and triggered a sudden exit for Hancock, who had thrown only 76 pitches.

Against lefthander José A. Ferrer, the Red Sox merely put the ball in play and let good things happen. Jarren Duran’s grounder to first baseman Josh Naylor yielded a force out at home, but he beat the relay to first to avoid an inning-ending double play.

Ferrer’s wild pitch allowed Abreu to scoot home. Caleb Durbin’s hard grounder to the left side of the infield got knocked down by shortstop Colt Emerson, who had no shot at recording an out anywhere, making it an RBI single for Durbin. Then Marcelo Mayer chopped one toward second baseman Cole Young, who likewise had no play, bringing in another run on another single.

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