Cole Young and Luke Riley hit home runs and George Kirby pitched six strong innings as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Cleveland Guardians 5-1 on Friday night to even their four-game series at one apiece.
The Guardians’ Chase DeLauter went deep for the third time in two games.
Kirby (1-0) allowed one run on two hits. The right-hander walked two and struck out six.
Guardians right-hander Gavin Williams (0-1) struggled with his command. He allowed three runs on two hits over five innings with seven strikeouts and walked a career-high six.
DeLauter, who made his first regular-season appearance Thursday after debuting in last year’s playoffs, homered with one out in the first inning for a second straight night. His fly ball to right-center field just eluded the glove of a leaping Raley at the wall.
Williams held Seattle scoreless until the fourth. Randy Arozarena and Dominic Canzone drew walks and, with two outs, Young just cleared the fence in right to make it 3-1. Young, in his second season, led the team with six homers and 18 RBIs this spring.
The Guardians loaded the bases in the fifth as Rhys Hoskins and CJ Kayfus led off with back-to-back walks, then an out later, Brayan Rocchio was hit by a pitch. Steven Kwan hit a shallow fly ball down the left field line that was caught by Arozarena, with the lumbering Hoskins inexplicably trying to tag and score. Hoskins was thrown out by 25 feet and Cleveland never threatened again.
The Mariners extended their lead off reliever Colin Holderman in the sixth. Arozarena drew a leadoff walk — the Guardians challenged ball four but the video review went against them — and Raley followed by lining a two-run shot over the right field wall. It was Raley’s second homer in as many games.
All nine of the Mariners’ runs through the first two games have come via the long ball. They hit four solo shots in a 6-4 loss in Thursday’s season opener.
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, the runner-up for American League MVP last season when he hit 60 homers – the most ever for a catcher and a switch hitter – went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. Raleigh has fanned in all seven of his at-bats this season.
–Field Level Media
