SEATTLE (AP) — Mitch Haniger hit his 12th home run, Justus Sheffield picked up a win against the team that drafted him and the Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians 7-3 on Saturday night.
Dylan Moore added a three-run homer in the fourth inning off Triston McKenzie to break open a close game and give Sheffield (3-3) the win in a showdown of former Indians first-round draft picks.
Sheffield worked out of jams in the second, fourth and sixth innings –- helping turn a double play in the second -- and overcame three doubles by José Ramírez. He struck out two, walked two and scattered five hits in six innings.
The Mariners have won two straight after a string of five losses.
Haniger, a former All-Star who missed most of the last two years with injuries, hit a solo shot in the first inning to join Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. for the major league lead with his 12th homer. He added a single and a run in the fifth inning to make it 5-0, helping chase McKenzie (1-2).
ADVERTISEMENTSheffield, a 25-year-old left-hander, was taken in the first round by the Indians in 2014, and McKenzie was drafted the next year. Cleveland traded Sheffield to the New York Yankees in 2016 in a deal for Andrew Miller.
Reliever Drew Steckenrider pitched a perfect seventh with two strikeouts to extend is streak to 13 1/3 innings with just one earned run allowed. Donovan Walton added a two-run triple in the eighth for the Mariners.
Harold Ramirez hit a solo homer for the Indians in the ninth.
TOUGH NIGHT
A day after hitting a home run and two doubles, prized Mariners prospect Jarred Kelenic went 0 for 5 and struck out three times in his third major league game. The 21-year-old rookie spiked his helmet and glared at the plate umpire after his third strikeout, which came on three pitches, including two called strikes.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Indians: LF Eddie Rosario returned to the lineup after taking a pitch to the foot in Friday night’s loss to the Mariners. He was pulled in the ninth for a pinch-runner, but manager Terry Francona said he suffered no serious damage.
Mariners: INF/DH Ty France (wrist) will wear a splint up to five days and is taking anti-inflammatory drugs while on the 10-day injured list, manager Scott Servais said. France took a pitch to the forearm on April 28, and that may have eventually caused the soreness in the wrist, Servais said.
UP NEXT
Indians: RHP Shane Bieber (4-2, 2.95) closes out the series for Cleveland. He’s given up two earned runs in 13 2/3 career innings against the Mariners and looks to extend his strikeout streak of at least eight in a record 20 straight games.
Mariners: Servais said he hadn’t yet decided on a starter for Sunday’s series finale in what will likely be a bullpen start.
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