Mariners clinch sixth consecutive series victory with 8-2 win over Oakland A’s
OAKLAND, Calif. – Just in case you haven’t been paying attention, the Mariners are rolling.
They got home runs Tuesday night from Leonys Martin, Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager in administering an 8-2 thumping of the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum.
That clinched a sixth straight series victory for the Mariners, who also moved atop the American League West Division. OK, the calendar hasn’t yet reached Cinco de Mayo, but this still isn’t the norm.
Hisashi Iwakuma (1-3) finally got his first victory by limiting the Athletics to one run and four hits in seven innings before Mayckol Guaipe and newcomer Steve Johnson closed out the Mariners’ 13th victory in 18 games.
The Mariners (15-11) did most of their damage against Oakland ace Sonny Gray, who dropped to 3-3 after giving up seven runs and 11 hits in seven-plus innings.
Martin’s two-run homer in the third inning opened the scoring. Robinson Cano made it 3-0 with a leadoff shot in the fourth before Seager capped a four-run eighth with a three-run shot against reliever Marc Rzepcynski.
It was tight for much of the night.
Iwakuma carried a 3-0 lead into the sixth but began the inning by yielding a single to Billy Burns, who stole second. Jed Lowrie followed with an RBI single on a grounder up the middle, but the Athletics settled for one run.
Shortstop Ketel Marte ended the Oakland sixth by starting a double play with a web gem, and then opened the seventh with a single. Marte went to second on a wild pitch and to third on Steve Clevenger’s fly to center.
Marte had to hold on Martin’s fly to short right but scored on Nori Aoki’s infield single. Iwakuma followed that with a shutdown inning before the Mariners knocked out Gray in the eighth.
Cano led off with a double to left and went to third on Nelson Cruz’s seeing-eye single through the left side. Adam Lind’s pop into short left should have been an out, but it fell between three Oakland players.
It was scored an RBI single, which made it 5-1. The Athletics went to their bullpen at that point for Rzepcynski, who floated a 2-2 sinker that Seager tagged for a 410-foot homer.
The lead was 8-1.
The Mariners didn’t have a hit against Gray until Clevenger’s one-out grounder up the middle in the third inning. Martin followed by pulling a 0-1 curve over the right-field wall for a two-run homer.
It was Martin’s fifth homer of the season, which matched his total from last season in 95 games at Texas. His career high is eight for the Rangers over 147 games in 2013.
Cano leadoff homer in the fourth – a no-doubt opposite drive to left field – extended the Mariners’ lead to 3-0. Kyle Seager hit a two-out double off the base of the right-field wall, but Gray avoided further damage.
But only for a while.
Play of the game: Shortstop Ketel Marte started an inning-ending double play in the sixth by snaring Khris Davis sharp grounder after the Athletics had scored one run and had a runner at first.
Marte made a back-hand flip to second baseman Robinson Cano for the force, and Cano completed the double play with a strong throw to first.
Plus: The bottom three in the Mariners’ lineup – Ketel Marte, Steve Clevenger and Leonys Martin – was a combined 6 for 12. … Robinson Cano’s double and homer were both to the opposite field. … Five players had two hits.
Minue: Right fielder Seth Smith was hitless in five at-bats for the second straight game.
Stat pack: The Mariners have a chance to sweep the Athletics by winning Wednesday’s series. The Mariners had chances to sweep three of their five previous series but lost the third game each time (at New York, and at home against Houston and Kansas City).
Short hops: Third baseman Kyle Seager is looking more like a former Gold Glove winner in recent games. The latest example came in the fifth inning when Seager took away a hit hit from Yonder Alonso by backhanding a low liner for the second out.