Mariners defeat Padres, honor Gwynn
SEATTLE — Kyle Seager hit a three-run homer in the first inning, Brad Miller added a solo shot, and Chris Young threw six shutout innings against his former team as the Seattle Mariners defeated the San Diego Padres 5-1 on Monday night at Safeco Field.
But Tony Gwynn was on everyone’s mind at Safeco Field. Seattle honored Gwynn with a video tribute and moment of silence before the game and put a ‘19’ on the dirt in the hole between the shortstop and third baseman. Gwynn called that the “5.5 hole” and many of his 3,141 hits went through it.
San Diego added black armbands to its uniform in honor of Gwynn, and his No. 19 jersey hung in the Padres dugout. His jersey also was scattered among fans in attendance.
Seager’s homer came on a 3-0 pitch from San Diego starter Tyson Ross (6-6). Coming off a 4-for-4 performance on Sunday, Seager was given the green light and hit his 10th homer of the season. Miller followed with a solo homer an inning later.
Robinson Cano added an RBI double as Seattle scored all five runs in the first two innings.
Seager leads Seattle in home runs and has seven hits in his last 10 at-bats with six RBIs. James Jones also stole three bases and scored twice for Seattle.
“It’s a good feeling that the skipper has confidence in you, that’s always good,” Seager said. “In that situation I had seen a couple of pitches … when you get the opportunity you have to make sure you capitalize and get a ball in the air.
Young was once an All-Star for the Padres and has become a valuable acquisition since joining Seattle at the end of spring training. After losing his last two starts, Young gave up two hits in the first inning and then cruised. He retired 16 of the final 19 batters he faced, giving up a pair of singles and issuing one walk. He matched his season high with six strikeouts.
Joe Beimel, who gave up the final home run in Gwynn’s career in 2001, pitched one inning of relief. Tom Wilhelmsen then got the final six outs, but couldn’t complete the shutout giving up Quentin’s third homer of the season.
Notes
Young has now faced all 30 teams in the majors. … Seattle hopes to send injured 1B Justin Smoak (quad) out on a rehab assignment Wednesday. Corey Hart (hamstring) and Michael Saunders (shoulder) could join Smoak on rehab assignments by the end of the week. … In 11 career games against Seattle, Gwynn hit .261 (12 for 46) with three doubles and four RBIs.