Rob Johnson's double in 11th powers Mariners past Red Sox, 7-6

BOSTON — One can easily hear the thinking catcher in Rob Johnson come out as he tries to describe how he pulled off an offensive feat even he likely never imagined would happen this season.

Certainly not after entering Friday night's game sporting a .187 batting average for the Mariners, and his reputation as a "pitcher's catcher" about the only thing keeping him in the lineup.

But there was Johnson in the 11th inning, going after a two-strike pitch and delivering his team-record-tying third double to help seal a 7-6 win over the Boston Red Sox.

"I knew that there was going to be off-speed stuff" from Red Sox reliever Ramon Ramirez, Johnson said. "I knew that they weren't going to try to beat me with fastballs. I'm really happy that I took the first pitch to see what kind of movement his changeup had, or his split, or whatever it is.

"He threw the next one, which I swung at, which was down. After that, I was just really trying to trust my hands and stay back and not put all of the pressure on myself."

Johnson figured Ramirez would come back with a pitch higher up. He implored himself to trust his hands — repeating, "Hands, hands, hands!" in his mind. That's what he'd been working on for weeks in batting cages, trying to get the right balance with his legs so his hands could react to pitches quicker.

And when that high pitch came, he flicked his wrists and laced a ball over first baseman Mark Kotsay's head, silencing 38,078 fans at Fenway Park and bringing home two runs.

The Mariners went on to win largely because of the continued improvement of the bottom third of their order, led by Johnson's three doubles, two more by Ryan Langerhans and a mammoth home run to left-center by Ronny Cedeno off Boston starter Tim Wakefield.

Jose Lopez also homered to help the Mariners overcome mounting bullpen concerns. Mark Lowe survived a solo home run by George Kottaras in the bottom of the 11th to save the win for Chris Jakubauskas, who tossed two scoreless innings after Seattle blew a 5-3 lead in the eighth.

Seattle avoided wasting a strong seven-inning effort by Felix Hernandez on the day he was named the American League's Pitcher of the Month for June. Hernandez fell behind 2-0 in the first inning, but later retired 13 of 14 after establishing command of his breaking balls.

"This guy's nasty," Johnson said. "The first couple of innings he struggled to throw his off-speed pitches for strikes. But after that, the rest was history. They really didn't have a chance."

A smiling Hernandez was pleased with the monthly honor. But he seemed more proud of the adjustments he made.

"I was trying to command the breaking ball because those guys just came out swinging," he said. "I needed to get a feel for my breaking ball because the first couple of innings I didn't feel anything."

Closer David Aardsma, feeling tightness in his back, was unavailable for the Mariners, and they had to use Shawn Kelley, fresh off the disabled list, in the eighth. Sean White had allowed a walk and a hit with one out before being lifted after what manager Don Wakamatsu believes were continuing mechanical issues.

"The biggest problem we had was just the amount of taxation, in a sense, on the bullpen," Wakamatsu said of why he used Kelley, who yielded a two-out, tying double to Nick Green off the fabled Green Monster in left field.

But the bottom of the order came through for the Mariners again. They'd already been helped in the fourth by a male fan who reached out from the stands near the visitors' dugout and trapped a Langerhans foul ball in his baseball cap. That prevented Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis from catching the ball for an out, and Langerhans later lined a double off the center-field wall.

Johnson doubled in a run with two out after that and Cedeno's two-run homer put Seattle ahead 4-2. Youkilis shot the fan a murderous glare, and jeers, catcalls and chants of "It's-all-your-fault!" rained down.

The fan eventually left the stadium.

Despite that break, Johnson said this team's winning roll — now 4-3 on this trip — also comes down to hitters making their own luck.

"There's not one guy on this team that can do it himself," he said. "You've got to be able to trust your teammates."

Notes

• LHP Erik Bedard, on the disabled list with shoulder trouble, threw a 54-pitch simulated game before Friday's game. He is scheduled to start Tuesday at Safeco Field against Baltimore. "He looked as good as I've seen him," Wakamatsu said.

• Mike Carp was sent back to AAA Tacoma to make room for Kelley. Carp batted .375 in five games with the Mariners. Wakamatsu was impressed by the 23-year-old's bat, but said he needs to play every day, improve his defense at first base and enhance his versatility. The Mariners plan to have Carp play left field more often for the Rainiers.

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com.