Mariners allow 8 runs in 3rd, lose to Tigers

DETROIT — Kyle Seager had an inning to forget. The Seattle third baseman made two errors in the third, and the Detroit Tigers scored eight runs in the inning in their 9-4 victory over the Mariners on Wednesday night. “Obviously, that’s not something Kyle is going to do very often,” Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. “He’ll bounce back.” Nick Castellanos hit a grand slam during that big rally. Anibal Sanchez (10-7) won his seventh straight decision, and Ian Kinsler had four hits for the Tigers, who rebounded from an ugly 11-9 loss the previous night. Nelson Cruz homered twice for Seattle. Mike Montgomery (4-4) allowed six earned runs and six hits in 2 2-3 innings. The Mariners did make it close enough to force Detroit to use closer Joakim Soria, who got four outs for his 22nd save in 25 chances. Detroit opened the scoring in the third when Seager threw the ball away on Kinsler’s infield single. The error allowed Rajai Davis, who began the play on first, to come around and score. With the bases loaded, Castellanos sent a drive off the brick facade that displays retired numbers in left-center. He almost hit Al Kaline’s No. 6, and the homer was measured at 447 feet by MLB.com. Jose Iglesias made it 6-0 with an RBI double, and Seager committed another error when he failed to catch Davis’ soft line drive, allowing a run to score. “I honestly have no idea what happened there,” Seager said. “It wasn’t too high or tailing away from me. I thought I had it in my glove, and it wasn’t there.” Montgomery was taken out after that, and Kinsler’s double made it 8-0. Montgomery allowed five walks with two strikeouts. Sanchez had some shaky moments as well, but only after the Tigers had given him a big lead to work with. Cruz’s two-run homer in the fourth went 437 feet, landing about halfway up the seating area in left. His solo shot in the fourth made it 8-4 and gave him 24 home runs on the season. “I’ve been working on things and watching a lot of tape, and I finally found something,” Cruz said. “In baseball, one small change can make a huge difference.” It’s been a big week for long home runs at Comerica Park. Cruz hit one 455 feet on Tuesday, and J.D. Martinez hit a 467-footer in the same game. Cruz had three hits Wednesday, and he came up in the seventh with two on and two out. Alex Wilson relieved Sanchez and struck out the Seattle slugger. Sanchez allowed four runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out six and walked two. On Tuesday, Detroit reliever Neftali Feliz allowed five runs in the eighth, squandering a two-run lead. On Wednesday, when the Mariners had two on with two out in the eighth, the Tigers brought in Soria to replace Al Alburquerque. He got Brad Miller on a weak groundout. “You don’t want to,” Ausmus said. “I think we could have been a little bit cleaner from a pitching perspective, but we also needed this win, so really didn’t have a choice. It became a save situation.” Victor Martinez made it 9-4 with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, and Soria finished for his 200th career save.

Battling back

The Mariners finished with 11 hits and certainly gave Detroit some anxious moments late. “We had opportunities all night, and we never really thought we were out of the game,” McClendon said. Seattle went only 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

Still rolling

Even with Miguel Cabrera injured, Detroit has hit well. In the 15 games without Cabrera since his calf injury, Detroit has averaged 5.7 runs

Trainer’s room

Mariners: McClendon said he expects to give C Mike Zunino a day off Thursday, and that he’s concerned about Zunino’s workload. Zunino has played in 87 of Seattle’s 95 games in 2015. Tigers: Iglesias hadn’t been feeling well and sat out Tuesday’s game, but he played Wednesday and had two hits.

Up next

Detroit ace David Price (9-3) takes the mound Thursday in the Tigers’ final home game before the trade deadline. Hisashi Iwakuma (2-1) starts for Seattle.