Michael Saunders' homer leads Mariners past Red Sox, 5-1

Before Saturday's game against Boston, all the talk from the Mariners was about moving forward.

Their goal was to take Friday's very public dugout altercation and treat it as an internal matter, brushing it aside to keep the focus on winning a baseball game.

Facing Jon Lester and the Red Sox at Safeco Field, there seemed little chance of forward progress.

Lester, the left-handed Tacoma native, took a perfect game into the sixth inning before the Mariners caught a break. It led to Michael Saunders' two-run homer and a 5-1 victory in front 43,694.

"There's a lot of people who care in this clubhouse and no one feels worse than we do when we don't play up to our expectations," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "Tonight was a great example. We came together and played hard."

When Lester took the mound for the sixth, Seattle players were talking about the perfect game, trying to jinx it. Lester proceeded to strike out the first batter of an inning for the fifth time.

Then shortstop Jack Wilson lifted a fly ball to center field. Boston's Eric Patterson chased it down but couldn't squeeze it, and it fell to the ground for an error. Wilson ended up at second base, bringing Saunders to the plate.

"When I got called up again this year, I promised myself that I wouldn't put too much pressure on myself and just stay aggressive and be confident in your abilities," Saunders said.

The young left fielder broke up the no-hitter by blasting a hanging curveball down the right-field line.

"When Michael Saunders hit the home run, it kind of gave a belief to everybody else that we could do some things," Wakamatsu said.

It was only the second time all season that Lester had given up a home run to a left-handed hitter. It was also the only hit Lester allowed through the first seven innings. He struck out 13.

"Lester was awfully good," Wakamatsu said. "You watch him pitch and you gain a respect for how good he really is."

Milton Bradley picked up the Mariners' second hit with a leadoff triple in the eighth. He scored an insurance run on Wilson's one-out squeeze bunt.

After Lester struck out Ichiro to open the game, Chone Figgins stepped to the plate as the second batter and was booed lightly. Fans didn't show much residual animosity after Friday night's dugout episode between the second baseman and Wakamatsu.

"When I get my thoughts together and if I decide to talk about it, I'm going to talk about it," Figgins said. "Right now, I'm just enjoying tonight."

Asked if he's on the same page with Wakamatsu, Figgins added, "That's hard to say. The same page is winning, for me."

Figgins made a nice defensive play in the second inning, a sliding backhand snag on a ball headed up the middle to retire Kevin Cash. Figgins finished the night 1 for 3 with two strikeouts. He heard a smattering of boos each time he made his way back to the dugout until he delivered an RBI double down the right-field line in the eighth that chased Lester.

"I'm always going to play," Figgins said. "There's nobody in this clubhouse or this game that can stop me from going out and competing every day, no matter what the situation is. I have emotions, because that's how I play."

Mariners starter David Pauley pitched well, striking out four over the first three innings. He went 5-2/3, allowing a run on five hits, but gave up a leadoff home run to David Ortiz in the fourth.

The way Lester was pitching, it appeared Ortiz's blast to right-center field was all the offense Boston would need. Then Patterson dropped the ball and Saunders, who later singled off Lester's foot in the eighth, delivered the big blow.

"We all had a moment of silence for the old Mariners," Saunders said. "We're turning a page today and moving forward. It's a new season starting today and what happened an hour ago, two hours, yesterday, a week, we can't control that and we're just trying to move forward."

Mason Kelley: 206-464-8277 or mkelley@seattletimes.com