The Seattle Mariners welcomed the Cleveland Indians to town on Tuesday night, kicking off a three-game series at Safeco Field. The Mariners are hoping to continue their winning homestand, but started off on the wrong foot with a very close 9-8 loss to open the series.
The Indians scored the first run of the game in the top of the first with a Travis Hafner RBI single. The Mariners would jump ahead in the bottom of the third on a two-run homer by John Jaso. Seattle then added a massive six-run fourth inning with a bases-loaded walk to Brendan Ryan, followed by a Jaso hit-by-pitch, a Chone Figgins sacrifice fly and singled by Ichiro Suzuki and Justin Smoak.
The Indians answered right back, however, with a seven-run fifth inning to tie the game. The big hit in that inning was a three-run homer by Carlos Santana.
In the top of the seventh, the Indians scored the go-ahead run on a Jason Donald sacrifice fly that brought Shelley Duncan home.
The Mariners managed one last gasp in the bottom of the ninth, as they loaded the bases with two outs against Cleveland closer Chris Perez, but Jaso just missed clobbering a pitch and instead flew out to right field to end the game.
Kevin Millwood was far from as sharp as he appeared in his first outing on Tuesday. In four innings, he allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and a walk, striking out just one.
Justin Smoak looked fantastic on Tuesday, going 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Kyle Seager went 2-for-5 but left four runners on base. Jaso, despite going 1-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, struck out twice and stranded six runners in the game.
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