Major League Baseball

Mariners-Red Sox preview

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:38 p.m. ET

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BOSTON -- Seattle Mariners left-hander Wade Miley was looking forward to facing the Boston Red Sox on Saturday at Fenway Park.

Instead, the Mariners will try to win their third straight game with a spot starter in Miley's place.

Miley, who was traded from Boston to Seattle during the winter, was placed on the disabled list with a left shoulder impingement.

Miley, 6-3 with a 5.28 ERA in 13 starts this season for Seattle, joined the Mariners along with pitcher Jonathan Aro in a trade that sent pitchers Roenis Elias, who started Friday for Boston, and Carson Smith to the Red Sox. Miley went 11-11 with a 4.46 ERA for Boston in 2015.

Miley began to feel the injury after his last start, a 6-4 loss to Texas on June 12. He joins Mariners ace Felix Hernandez as two-fifths of the starting rotation now on the DL.

"He's been struggling a little bit later his last start. The shoulder was bothering him a bit," Mariners manager Scott Servais said before the game.

The Mariners didn't officially announce a replacement for Miley, but all indications were that rookie Adrian Sampson, 24, would make his major league debut in Miley's spot.

Sampson joined the Mariners in Boston but wasn't activated Friday. A fifth-round draft pick of Pittsburgh in 2012, Sampson is 7-4 with a 3.25 ERA in 13 starts at Triple-A Tacoma this season.

The Red Sox will counter with right-hander Rick Porcello, who is 7-2 with a 3.81 ERA. Porcello is 5-0 in five starts at Fenway Park this season.

Porcello will have to contend with a Mariners offense that scored eight runs against Boston on Friday, led by outfielder Franklin Gutierrez. Gutierrez went 3-for-5 with two home runs and six RBIs.

"So I guess I see the ball pretty good here at Fenway Park," Gutierrez said.

Seattle second baseman Robinson Cano also had a big day with two hits, including a home run, and two RBIs. He has seven multi-hit games in his past 10 games and is 9-for-20 in his past four games.

Whoever makes the start for Seattle will face a steep task. Despite losing 8-4 to Seattle on Friday, the Sox are still the most potent offense in the American League, with Seattle second.

David Ortiz again led the Boston attack with career home run No. 521, which tied him for 19th all time with Willie McCovey, Frank Thomas and Ted Williams.

He'll look to continue his assault on the record books in the second game of the three-game series at Fenway.

"It's wonderful, man," Ortiz said. "We're talking about some of the greatest hitters in the game. Me being mentioned now right next to (legends of the game), it's all good."

The Red Sox have lost nine of their past 14 games.

"It's not been reflective on the first two months we've had," Sox manager John Farrell said. "We've had some games where we haven't kept things under control from the start. We've played from behind here of late a little bit this month and it has been kind of the other side of the coin compared to the first two."

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