Mariners rip Royals
Ichiro’s 4-hit game includes fifth homer
SEATTLE – Ichiro Suzuki had four hits, including a homer, to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 7-3 on Friday night.
Miguel Olivo and Justin Smoak each added three hits for Seattle. Olivo fell a single short of the cycle.
Blake Beavan (4-5) gave up three runs in 6 1/3 innings, retiring 13 straight batters during one stretch.
Loser Jeff Francis (5-16) allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings. It could have been worse had Kansas City’s Jeff Francoeur not made an amazing catch in right field, taking a home run away from Seattle second baseman Dustin Ackley in the third inning.
Francoeur jumped, then reached over the wall to catch the deep fly ball. Replays showed the ball ticked off the glove of a fan before landing in Francoeur’s, which should have made it a home run. The umpires ruled it was an out.
Alex Gordon hit the first pitch of the game into the right-field stands for his 21st homer. Melky Cabrera followed with a triple and Beavan was in trouble. Billy Butler’s groundout to second pushed home Cabrera.
But the Mariners responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Brendan Ryan scored on Olivo’s double. Olivo came home when Smoak singled up the middle.
The first-inning production against Francis continued a trend. Opponents are hitting .358 against him in the first inning. He has allowed 97 runs this seaosn, 31 coming in the opening frame.
Beavan steadied after his rocky first inning. After giving up a leadoff single in the second, he retired 13 straight.
Ichiro led off the third with his fifth homer of the season. Two outs later, Olivo added his 17th homer. Seattle tacked on a run in the fourth and two in the fifth on RBI singles by Smoak and Wily Mo Pena to make it 7-2.
Vargas adds a twist
Jason Vargas’ six quality innings Thursday night, when he allowed only one run, was a big step forward for a pitcher who has struggled since the All-Star break. It also may have been the result of an altered delivery, when he added a slight turn of his shoulders during his leg kick.
“I really liked what we saw,” manager Eric Wedge said. “He had a better fastball, a more consistent fastball, and it helped him be more consistent with his changeup. He was able to utilize his breaking ball more, especially early in the count. It was all positive. A lot of things really came together for him.”
Notes
Michael Pineda starts for Seattle today, likely his second-to-last of the season. The Mariners plan to shut down the rookie who has thrown 159 innings, a personal professional career high. … The Mariners are 23-3 on the year in games they have allowed one run or less. … Coming into Friday’s game, Ichiro was lifetime .363 against the Royals.