Red Sox 8, Mariners 2: Brandon Workman allowed one run in six innings and was backed by three home runs en route to his first major-league win for host Boston in the opener of a three-game series.

Dustin Pedroia and Jarrod Saltalamacchia belted two-run homers and Jacoby Ellsbury added a solo shot for the Red Sox, who beat Seattle for the fourth consecutive time. Shane Victorino had three hits and scored three times to keep Boston one-half game behind first-place Tampa Bay in the American League East.

Workman (1-1) struck out a season-high nine and allowed six hits, blanking the Mariners after yielding a two-out RBI double by Kendrys Morales in the first inning. Workman coasted into the sixth inning before giving up three straight one-out singles to load the bases, but he came back to fan Michael Morse and Justin Smoak and escape unscathed.

Joe Saunders (9-10) lost his second straight following a four-start winning streak, allowing six runs - five earned - and nine hits in five innings. He fell into a 5-1 hole when Ellsbury went deep in the second and Pedroia, who finished with three RBIs, added a two-run shot two batters later to snap an 0-for-16 skid.

Kyle Seager and Morales had two hits apiece for the Mariners, who collected three straight two-out hits off Pedro Beato in the ninth inning before losing for only the fourth time in 14 games.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Workman became only the second Boston pitcher since 1977 to allow two runs or fewer in each of his first three major-league starts. ... Morse went 0-for-4 in his return to the lineup for the Mariners. He had been sidelined since June 20 due to a strained right quadriceps. ... The Red Sox held a pregame ceremony to honor former manager Joe Morgan, who guided the 1988 team to wins in his first 12 games after he was named interim manager en route to winning the AL East.