ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — George Kirby allowed one run in six innings, Cal Raleigh hit a three-run homer and the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 on Wednesday.
Seattle went 3-6 on a trip to Cleveland, Miami and Tampa Bay and at 19-25 is the only division leader with a losing road record.
Seattle closer Andrés Muñoz, who blew his second save in 15 chances on Monday, loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth on two walks and a hit by pitch with the Mariners ahead 5-1. Richie Palacios hit into a run-scoring forceout off Trent Thornton, who got his first big league save when Amed Rosario grounded into a game-ending double play.
Kirby (7-5) scattered four hits and struck out seven, his sixth consecutive start giving up two runs or fewer.
Raleigh put Seattle up 3-1 with his 14th homer, a sixth-inning drive off Shawn Armstrong (2-2). The reliever walked the struggling Julio RodrĂguez, who had three hits in his previous 32 at-bats, before Raleigh connected on a 422-foot drive to right.
J.P. Crawford made it 5-1 on a two-run single in the seventh.
Yandy DĂaz extended his career-best hitting streak to 19 games with a first-inning single, tying the Rays’ record set by Jason Bartlett in 2009.
Tampa Bay reached the midway point at 40-41 after losing for just the third time in 10 games. The Rays were 54-27 at the same point last season en route to an AL wild-card berth.
DĂaz also had a third-inning RBI infield single.
Kirby fielded DĂaz’s chopper between the mound and the first-base line, but was unsuccessful in beating him to the bag with first baseman Ty France moving toward second on the play. JosĂ© Caballero, who had doubled, scored from second base.
Rays starter Ryan Pepiot gave one run and one hit over 5 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts and two walks.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: OF Luke Raley was a late scratch.
Rays: Rosario (facial lacerations) played for the first time since getting hit by a pitch on Saturday and went 0 for 4. … 2B Brandon Lowe (broken right pinky toe) was out of the lineup for the fourth straight game.
UP NEXT
Mariners: RHP Logan Gilbert (5-4, 2.71 ERA) will start Friday night against Minnesota.
Rays: RHP Zach Eflin (3-5, 2.40 ERA) will face Washington on Friday night.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
COPYRIGHT 2024 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
