Out of Right Field: Recap, takeaways from the Mariners’ 6-5 loss to the Oakland Athletics
Matt Chapman hit a home run and Mike Fiers pitched six quality innings as the Oakland Athletics defeated the visiting Seattle Mariners 6-5 Saturday afternoon for their eighth consecutive victory.
Domingo Santana hit two solo homers and Mitch Haniger had one for Seattle, which lost its fifth in a row.
Chapman lined a solo shot over the wall in right-center field in the first inning against Mariners left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (3-2).
Seattle twice tied the score after being down a run, but the Athletics never trailed.
Fiers (4-3), a right-hander who threw his second career no-hitter earlier this month, allowed three runs on five hits in six innings. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out three.
Oakland’s Blake Treinen overcame a shaky ninth for his 10th save of the season.
With one out, Santana homered to center field. Kyle Seager, making his season debut after suffering a hand injury in spring training, then doubled to left. An out later, J.P. Crawford doubled off the base on the wall in left, scoring Seager to pull the Mariners within a run. Treinen got rookie Shed Long to fly out to right field to end the game.
Kikuchi, who suffered his first loss since April 15, lasted just 3 1/3 innings. He allowed five runs (four earned) on 10 hits, with one walk and one strikeout.
Of note
The Mariners rank second in the majors with 96 home runs, trailing only the Minnesota Twins. … The M’s dropped to 7-12 in day games, with another scheduled Sunday.
By the numbers
0: Number of hits in 12 at-bats for the Nos. 2-4 batters (Daniel Vogelbach, Edwin Encarnacion and Omar Narvaez) in the M’s lineup Saturday.
Our take from Right Field
The M’s showed some fight in the ninth against A’s closer Treinen, but still came up short. Seager looked good in both the field and at the plate, going 2 for 4 with a double.
Up next
The M’s conclude their six-game trip, during which they have yet to win, Sunday afternoon in Oakland. RHP Mike Leake (3-5, 4.73 ERA) is set to go against A’s LHP Brett Anderson (5-3, 4.14). Game time is 1:07 p.m.