Minnesota entered Friday’s game having won two of its past 10 contests. They’ve yet to lose a road series.
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“Through the first (at-bats) I beat them with the fastball”, Walker said. Sano answered in the second with a home run for his ninth of the season.Mariners first baseman Dae-Ho Lee had an RBI single in the fourth to cut the lead to 6-2.Minnesota third baseman Trevor Plouffe came out of the game after three innings for undisclosed reasons.NOTES: The Mariners placed CF Leonys Martin on the 15-day disabled list Friday. “A lot of times you can tell a little bit by the ricochet, and the fact the ball caromed the way it did, I heard a lot of helmet”, he said. “We just didn’t play well in those series, and we’ll get back at it (Monday)”. We’ve got a couple guys that are out right now – that certainly affects things – but gives an opportunity for other players to step up, and that’s what you’ve got to do. Marte hit in the cage and took groundballs before Saturday’s game. “Get him an MRI tomorrow and were not going to do anything at this time until we get further information on what his condition is”, Molitor said. Along the way, we’re going to have a few bumps in the road.
For those watching the last three games, it was hard to realize the discrepancy in records and in the two teams’ places in the American League standings.
The Mariners were trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th, but had runners on 1st and 3rd against Twins closer Kevin Jepsen with one out and Franklin Gutierrez at the plate. Ryan Pressly (2-3) threw just one pitch in the sixth, but it resulted in an inning-ending double play at the plate.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Taijuan Walker, right, returns to the mound as Minnesota Twins’ Robbie Grossman (36) is congratulated by third base coach Gene Glynn on Grossman’s home run in the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 29, 2016, in Seattle.
After Byung Ho Park’s walk, Juan Centeno hit a two-out double to drive in another run to extend Minnesota’s lead in the fourth.
Walker was pulled with one out in the fifth after he walked Sano to load the bases. Remarkably, the 29-year-old southpaw surrendered 3 home runs. “He was trying to compete, trying to find it, but he made some mistakes and they got him”. Steve Johnson and Joel Peralta each worked a scoreless inning.
The AL’s lowest-scoring team finally woke up over the weekend and next draws a matchup against the team with the league’s next highest ERA to its own. The Twins seek their first five-game run since winning six in a row from August 20-26, and they can do so by snapping a two-game skid against the Athletics (22-29). Miley’s final line showed five runs and six hits while throwing 98 pitches in four-plus innings. “Unfortunately, it all happened at the same time this series”. Instead, Cano raked the first pitch, and lined it into the first row of seats in right, his 15th homer of the year. Perhaps, but Nelson Cruz’s leadoff single had been erased by Kyle Seager’s double play minutes before.
This weekend, that duo combined to power the Twins to an unexpected sweep.
“We put pressure on them every inning”, Seattle manager Scott Servais said. They are now 10-14 at home and trail the Texas Rangers by a half-game in the division.
Sano homered for the third consecutive game, hitting a two-run shot in the first inning to give Minnesota a 2-0 lead.
The Twins will try to keep rolling against Nolasco, who has struggled mightily in May after posting a 3.25 ERA in April.
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PLUS: The Mariners at least mounted a comeback behind Gutierrez’s two-out homer in the ninth, and Cano went 2 for 4. Sano has homered in four consecutive games, all Minnesota victories. He’s hitting.345 with 21 runs, seven homers and 20 RBIs in that stretch.
