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Seattle Mariners

Mariners Log: Robinson Cano and James Paxton lead M’s over White Sox

Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners' Robinson Cano center, celebrates with teammates Jean Segura, right, and Nelson Cruz, left, at home plate after hitting a three-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, July 14, 2017, in Chicago. (Paul Beaty / Associated Press)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

PAXTON GOES SIX STRONG AS M’S START ROAD TRIP WITH WIN.

What happened: Robinson Cano hit a three-run home run and the Seattle Mariners got the “second half” of the season underway with a 4-2 win over the Chicago White Sox in the first of a three-game series at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday.

Cano’s homer came in the third inning of Sox’ starter James Shields. Cano went 2 for 4 with a walk. Jean Segura went 2 for 5 and scored twice.

M’s starter James Paxton (W, 8-3) went six strong innings with nine strikeouts and allowed two runs on two hits and no walks. The bullpen followed up with three innings of no-hit, no-walk relief with six strikeouts.

Line Outs

  • White Sox broke on top in the second. With one down, Avasail Garcia singled to left, stole second and went to third on Mike Zunino’s throwing error and scored on a ground rule double over Mitch Haniger’s head in right that bounced into the stands.
  • Zunino led off the third with a walk and went to second when Jean Segura singled up the middle. Ben Gamel lined out to right and Zunino moved up a base. Robinson Cano then slugged a first-pitch cutter off the top of the wall and into the right-field stands for a three-run homer, his 18th of the season.
  • In the fourth, Garcia singled with one down and scored on a double to center by Matt Davidson to make it 3-2.
  • The M’s answered again in the fifth. Segura led off with a double, went to third on Cano’s groundout and scored on a wild pitch with Nelson Cruz up.
  • Tony Zych struck out two in a scoreless seventh, Nick Vincent did the same in the eighth, and Edwin Diaz followed suit, finishing off Garcia with a 99 mph heater to earn his 14th save.

The Takeaway

It’s nice to get a win the first game after the All-Star break. This six-game road trip is important that the M’s don’t lose any more ground if they want to stay in wildcard contention. They have a 10-game homestand leading up to the trade deadline after that which will decide if they are buyers or sellers at the end of the month.

Tweet of the Day

Players of the Game

Hero: Robinson Cano. Picked up right where he left off at the All-Star Game with the homer. Honorable mention to James Paxton.

Goat: Jarrod Dyson. 0 for 4, three LOB.

Next Game

Seattle Mariners (44-47) at Chicago White Sox (38-50) on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. Felix Hernandez (4-3, 4.44) faces Mike Pelfrey (3-7, 4.83).