Ariel Miranda and a pair of relievers limited Cleveland to just four hits on the night and a pair of home runs provided all of the offense for Seattle as the Mariners knocked off the Indians, 3-1, on Friday night.
Miranda, the 28-year-old Cuban left-hander, got the start for Seattle and was making his 15th career start and 17th overall appearance while taking on the Indians for the first time. Previous issues on the road may have been a concern for the southpaw, who owned a 1-3 record with a 5.59 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP away from home, but he quieted those whispers quickly with a dominating effort against the Tribe. His production, coupled with the bullpen work of hard-throwing left-hander James Pazos and right-hander Edwin Diaz, spoiled another quality outing from Indians starter Carlos Carrasco.
It was an old fashioned pitcher’s duel through the first three innings. Both teams got a first inning runner into scoring position, but were unable to drive in the potential run. Jean Segura started the game with a double to left and moved to third with one out, but Carrasco stranded him. Francisco Lindor walked in the home half and moved to second with two outs on a wild pitch, but after Edwin Encarnacion walked, Jose Ramirez struck out swinging to leave a pair.
The game changed in the fourth as both teams found home plate. Ben Gamel started the road half with a double and came home to score on a deep drive by Robinson Cano that landed in the seating area in front of the bullpens for a two-run shot.
The Indians countered with their first hit of the game in the home half as Ramirez lifted a 2-1 Miranda offering off of the railings above the left field wall. Initially ruled a double on the field, replay review overturned the call and the Indians had cut the Mariners lead to 2-1. The homer may have only provided more energy for the Seattle left-hander on the mound, as he struck out the next two batters after the Ramirez homer and the first man in the bottom of the fifth before Yan Gomes and Carlos Santana each flew out on first pitch swings.
Miranda got an additional run of support in the sixth as Gamel homered to right to extend the lead to 3-1. He allowed a single to start the sixth and retired Brandon Guyer on a liner before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Pazos struck out the first four batters that he faced before a seventh inning single from Abraham Almonte. Lindor would reach again with a one-out double to left in the eighth before Pazos turned the game over to Diaz, who struck out Encarnacion to end the inning and sandwiched a one-out pop out by Jason Kipnis with two more strikeouts to nail down the victory.
The Indians dropped to 12-10 on the season with the defeat. They are just 4-6 at Progressive Field to start the season. The win pushed the Mariners to 11-13 on the season and just 5-10 on the road.
M’S PITCHING WAS MARVELOUS
Three Mariners pitchers combined to shut down the Indians offense, giving up a combined one run on four hits with two walks and 14 strikeouts.
Miranda led the way and earned his second win of the year behind five and one-third innings of work. He allowed a run on two hits, walked a pair, and struck out seven in quieting his road woes.
Pazos was nearly unhittable at times while slamming the door on the Tribe. He gave up two hits (Almonte, Lindor), but struck out four on 29 pitches total to earn his first hold of the season.
The right-hander Diaz provided a different look for Cleveland, but more of the same results. He worked an inning and a third, striking out three of the four batters that he faced while earning his fourth save of the season.
HOME RUNS SPOIL QUALITY CARRASCO START
Carrasco took the tough luck loss as the two home run balls proved to be too much for his Tribe teammates to overcome against a strong pitching performance. He would last eight innings, throwing 75 of 106 pitches for strikes and aggressively hitting first pitch strikes to 24 of 28 batters. Like Miranda, he had 12 swing and misses in the ball game.
He was charged with the three runs on the two long balls and six hits in total. He did not walk a batter and he struck out seven. He reached the 700-strikeout mark in his career during his outing, moving past Len Barker on the team’s all-time strikeout list.
CANO CRUSHES CARRASCO
The two-run home run by Cano in the fourth inning extended his good success against the Indians right-hander Carrasco in their careers. Cano entered the night with a .429 average (6-for-14) against him with two doubles, one homer, and four runs batted in.
HOME SWEET HOME?
Ramirez entered the night hitting .531 (17-for-32) at Progressive Field. He accounted for the Tribe’s only run with his solo homer in the fourth, but very uncharacteristically struck out in each of his other three at bats on the night.
HERNANDEZ TO MISS 3-4 WEEKS
The news on injured starter Felix Hernandez was a bit worse than expected for the Mariners, who had hoped to lose their staff ace for just a couple of games when they placed him on the 10-day disabled list on Wednesday with right shoulder inflammation. Instead, right shoulder bursitis could keep him off the field for three to four weeks.
GAME TWO
Game two of the three-game series between the Indians and Mariners is scheduled for 4:10 PM ET on Saturday.
Right-hander Danny Salazar (1-2, 4.37 ERA) will make the start for Cleveland. A strikeout machine in the early going this season, he will make his third start of his career against the Mariners. He entered Friday’s action with the top strikeout per nine rate in all of baseball and will look to get back into the win column after suffering a loss his last time out in Chicago. Right-hander Yovani Gallardo (1-2, 4.84) will throw for Seattle. He has faced the Indians just once in his career, and that came back in 2009 when he allowed just two runs on five hits in five innings of work. He earned a win in his last start after allowing just one run to Oakland.
Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images
