Mariners blanked by Red Sox, Johnson

BOSTON (AP) — Brian Johnson had quite a turnaround in his second time on Fenway Park’s mound.

Johnson pitched a five-hitter in his first big league appearance at Fenway, and the Boston Red Sox stretched their winning streak to a season-high six games with a 6-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.

The 26-year-old left-hander became the first Red Sox pitcher to throw a shutout in his first Fenway start since Pedro Martinez on April 11, 1998.

In Johnson’s first start at Fenway — his fourth as a professional — he sustained a season-ending facial fracture when he was hit by a line drive while pitching for Class A Lowell in 2012.

“The last time I walked off the mound here was 2012 and I made two pitches,” Johnson said. “Today, I went nine innings. Today was pretty cool.”

Johnson left Triple-A for a little over a month last season to get treatment for an anxiety issue.

“Obviously with some stuff that I’ve gone through in my career, it’s an awesome feeling,” he said.

But despite the stellar outing, Johnson was optioned back to Triple-A after the game.

“That’s the reality of the game,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “We had a chance to congratulate him and yet option him back to Pawtucket, with David Price coming here Monday.”

Brought up from the minors for the start, Johnson (2-0) gave up five singles, struck out eight and walked none. His only previous big league starts were at Houston on July 21, 2015, and at Toronto on April 18 this year.

Johnson was helped by a semi-leaping catch by centre fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. at the wall in the sixth, Bradley’s diving grab of Nelson Cruz’s sinking liner in the ninth and Bradley’s game-ending running catch of Kyle Seager’s drive.

Xander Bogaerts’ RBI single triggered a three-run first inning and Bradley hit a two-run homer in the sixth.

Shut out for the second straight day, Seattle has lost seven of eight.

“Their guy threw the ball over the plate. He threw strikes,” said Mariners manager Scott Servais. “I won’t take anything away from what he did, but we’re not swinging the bat very well.”

Rob Whalen (0-1) gave up five runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings in his Mariners’ debut, his first big league start since Aug. 23 for Atlanta.