Seattle Mariners pound six home runs, beat San Diego Padres 11-4.
SEATTLE – Six homers. That’s right, six homers.
The Seattle Mariners tied a club record Tuesday night by hitting six homers in an 11-4 rout of the San Diego Padres at Safeco Field.
It matched the most the Mariners have ever hit at Safeco. They also hit six on Aug. 27, 2004 in a 7-5 victory over Kansas City. The final two that night came in the eighth inning and provided the winning margin.
No such heroics were necessary on this occasion, although Mike Zunino’s second homer of the game, a two-run blast in the seventh, stemmed a budding San Diego comeback.
“We put up some runs (over the weekend) against Oakland,” Zunino said. “Even after an off-day (Monday), we came out swinging again. We knew, as a club, if we could have good at-bats, we’d be a good lineup.”
Kyle Seager got the Mariners started with a three-run homer in a four-run first inning against Padres starter Ian Kennedy. Logan Morrison also went deep in the third against Kennedy.
Zunino’s first homer came in a two-run sixth against reliever Shawn Kelley that pushed the lead to 7-0. Everything looked safe at that point.
Mariners starter James Paxton (1-2) had weathered five walks and two bases-loaded jams while pitching six shutout innings before that seven-run cushion over to the bullpen.
“Not how you draw it up,” he said, “but zeroes, and we got the win. Obviously, I don’t want to walk five guys. I was a little bit all over the place, and I want to clean that up.”
Paxton’s night ended when center fielder Dustin Ackley ran down Will Middlebrooks’ deep two-out fly on the warning track in right-center field for a web-gem catch.
Danny Farquhar began the seventh with a 7-0 lead – and his struggles continued. He quickly worked himself into a jam with a single and two walks after a line out to open the inning.
In came Tom Wilhelmsen to face the teeth of the Padres’ lineup: Matt Kemp and Justin Upton. Shortstop Chris Taylor booted Kemp’s grounder for an error. One run scored, the bases were still loaded.
Upton struck out by chasing a full-count slider out of the zone, but Yangervis Solarte punched a two-run single into center. The Padres were back to within 7-3.
Wilhelmsen stopped it there by striking out Jedd Gyorko.
The Mariners answered with Zunino’s second homer of the game, a two-run shot to left against reliever Frank Garces. Justin Ruggiano followed with his first homer as a Mariner on a line-drive to left.
The seven-run lead was back at 10-3.
Nelson Cruz iced the came in the eighth by hitting his 15th homer, which leads the majors. It was the Mariners’ fourth straight victory and their biggest winning margin of the season.
“We’ve been swinging the bats better the last couple of days,” Seager said. “Obviously, we had a little bit extra tonight. It was good.”
Iwakuma shut down
Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma will be shut down for up to two weeks in his recovery from a right latissimus muscle injury after experiencing tightness during a throwing session.
Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said Tuesday that Iwakuma would be kept from throwing for 10 to 14 days depending on how he is feeling. Iwakuma threw last Friday and was hoping to feel no discomfort but instead felt tightness in the muscle.
Iwakuma has been on the disabled list since April 24.He was 0-1 with a 6.61 ERA in three starts before going on the DL.
Associated Press