Seattle Mariners vs Tampa Bay Rays Box Score on Aug 19, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 19, 2017

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Mitch Haniger's grand slam got the Seattle Mariners an early lead en route to their fourth straight victory, a 7-6 decision over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday at Tropicana Field.

The Mariners (63-61) had a 7-2 lead in the sixth and held off a rally from a Rays' team that had scored nine runs in their previous 10 home games. Tampa Bay (60-65) has dropped four in a row and 12 of its last 15 as the Rays fade from the American League wild-card chase.

Logan Morrison had a pinch-hit solo home run in the bottom of the ninth -- his 29th of the season -- to get Tampa Bay within a run. Edwin Diaz regrouped to strike out Kevin Kiermaier and pinch hitter Corey Dickerson hit a weak ground ball as he recorded his 27th save.

Seattle's Ariel Miranda (8-6) gave up three runs on five hits in five innings, but the Mariners' bats were strong enough to get him the win. Tampa Bay's Jake Odorizzi (6-7) didn't make it through the fourth inning, struggling enough to spoil the Rays' awakening at the plate as the six runs marked their most in a home game since June 23.

Down 7-2 in the sixth inning, the Rays got a leadoff home run from Steven Souza (his 26th of the season) to chase Miranda.

Reliever Emilio Pagan gave up a single to Wilson Ramos, then a two-run homer to Lucas Duda -- his 22nd of the season -- to get the Rays within 7-5.

For the second night in a row, the Mariners jumped out early.

Seattle had the bases loaded with one out in the second and came away empty, but Odorizzi wasn't as fortunate in the third. Singles by Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager sandwiched around a walk to Nelson Cruz loaded the bases before Haniger followed with his first career grand slam -- and eighth homer of the year -- for a 4-1 lead.

The Rays, who had taken an early lead on Ramos' RBI single in the first inning, got another run on Peter Bourjos' RBI double in the third to cut the lead to 4-2, but the Mariners weren't done.

Jean Segura doubled to lead off the fourth and scored on Yonder Alonso's RBI single to make it 5-2.

Cruz, who had a home run and two doubles in Friday's win, hit a shot to right field that was initially ruled a double, but replays showed it cleared the fence and bounced off a railing back into play. That made it his 31st home run and gave the Mariners a 7-2 lead.

Odorizzi lasted 3 2/3 innings, leaving after giving up seven runs and eight hits. He didn't help his cause with five walks, raising his season ERA to 4.74.

NOTES: The Rays on Saturday claimed OF Cesar Puello, who had been designated for assignment by the Angels. Puello, 26, hit .397 in 44 games with the Angels' Triple-A affiliate in Salt Lake, with seven home runs, 34 RBIs and 13 steals. No corresponding move was announced by the Rays. ... The Mariners' 12-game, 14-day road trip will cover 7,500 miles in the air, with stops in St. Petersburg, Atlanta, New York (Yankees) and Baltimore. ... Nelson Cruz's two-run homer was his 70th on the road since the start of 2015, easily the most in the majors. Entering Saturday, the closest was Cleveland's Edwin Encarnacion with 62.