Mariners come up short in loss to Rockies
SEATTLE – Hisashi Iwakuma blinked first Friday night in his pitchers’ duel with Colorado right-hander Chad Bettis. And Iwakuma blinked hard.
The Rockies strung together five straight one-out hits against Iwakuma in the seventh inning, including a three-run homer by Dustin Garneau, and held on for a 4-2 victory over the Mariners at Safeco Field.
Bettis (7-5) never blinked in his seven innings, but the Mariners quickly found life when the Rockies called on Christian Friedrich to protect a three-run in the eighth.
Shawn O’Malley batted for James Jones and drew a leadoff walk. Kyle Seager then jumped a first-pitch slider for a two-run homer.
The Mariners were back to within 3-2.
Seager’s homer was his 24th, one shy of his career best of 25 set a year ago. That was it, though. The Mariners got no closer.
Colorado replaced Friedrich with Justin Miller, who got a borderline strike-three call on Nelson Cruz. Then another pitching switch, to Boone Logan, who retired Robinson Cano on a grounder to first.
Then still another matchup switch to Jairo Diaz, who issued a four-pitch walk to Mark Trumbo. After Ketel Marte entered the game as a pinch-runner, Seth Smith struck out.
The Rockies added an insurance run in the ninth against Tony Zych on a two-out wild pitch before John Axford closed out the victory for his 22nd save.
The loss dropped the Mariners to 68-74 with 20 games remaining. They are seven games behind Texas for the American League’s final wild-card berth.
Iwakuma (7-4) carried a three-hit shutout into the seventh in quest of the Mariners’ third straight shutout victory – something that’s never been done in the franchise’s 39 years.
But the roof caved in on Iwakuma after DJ LeMahieu opened the inning with a grounder to short. Justin Morneau and Ben Paulsen delivered successive singles before Garneau crushed a first-pitch curve.
Garneau’s drive caromed off the scoreboard in left field for a three-run homer, which halted the Mariners’ scoreless streak at 24 innings over two-plus games.
When Daniel Descalso and Charlie Blackmon followed with singles – five straight hits – the Mariners went to their bullpen for Danny Farquhar.
Colorado’s breakthrough came right after the Mariners failed to capitalize on a two-on, no-out opportunity in the sixth. Jones led off with a single up the middle and went to second when Seager walked.
Bettis squelched the threat by, first, getting Cruz to ground into a double play. Jones moved to third but, after an intentional walk to Cano, Trumbo struck out.
Around the majors
Reds 1B Joey Votto appealed a two-game suspension Friday for a home-plate tantrum, saying that he didn’t deserve to be ejected from a game let alone suspended. MLB also fined Votto an undisclosed amount for his treatment of plate umpire Bill Welke after he was ejected on Wednesday. … Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira will miss the rest of the season after tests revealed he has a fractured right leg. … Friday night’s game between the Tigers and Indians was postponed by rain. The teams will play a doubleheader Sunday starting at 10:10 p.m. PDT. … Heavy rain forced the Cardinals at Reds game to be suspended in the top of the eighth inning tied 2-2. … Astros RHP Scott Feldman will miss the rest of the season with a sprained right shoulder.