Oakland Athletics vs Seattle Mariners Match Player Stats On Jul 07, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jul 8, 2017

SEATTLE -- Nelson Cruz hit his 300th career home run and drove in five runs as the Seattle Mariners snapped an eight-game home losing streak with a 7-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night at Safeco Field.

Cruz hit run-scoring singles in his first two at-bats, then cranked a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning off A's reliever Liam Hendriks.

James Paxton (7-3) allowed two runs and two hits in seven innings and struck out nine. The left-hander won his second straight decision after a three-game losing streak.

Oakland's Sean Manaea (7-5) nearly matched Paxton, leaving after seven innings with his team trailing 3-2. The left-hander, who was 6-1 with a 2.84 ERA in nine starts since suffering a loss on May 15 at Seattle, allowed three runs and eight hits. He walked one and struck out three.

The Mariners teed off on Hendriks, the Australian right-hander, in the eighth.

Danny Valencia led off with a double down the right-field and Robinson Cano walked. Cruz hit the next pitch 433 feet into left-center field to make it 6-2.

Mitch Haniger followed with a one-hop double off the center-field fence. That was all for Hendriks, who didn't retire any of the four batters he faced. Haniger advanced to third on a wild pitch from Zach Neal and scored on Kyle Seager's sacrifice fly for the final margin.

The Mariners took the lead in the first as Valencia and Cano singled with one out and Cruz hit a run-scoring single to left field.

The A's responded with two runs in the third. With one out, Matt Joyce singled to right and moved to second on a throwing error following Ryan Lavarnway's flyout. After a walk to Rajai Davis, Marcus Semien hit a two-run double down the left-field line.

The Mariners regained the lead in the bottom of the inning as Jean Segura and Valencia led off with singles. Cano grounded into a fielder's choice to put runners at first and third, and Segura scored on another run-scoring single by Cruz, making it 2-2. A single by Haniger loaded the bases and Cano scored the go-ahead run on Seager's sacrifice fly to center field.

NOTES: Mariners 2B Robinson Cano was named an injury replacement for the American League in next Tuesday's All-Star Game in Miami. ... Seattle made a roster move, sending starting RHP Sam Gaviglio, who suffered the loss Thursday, to Triple-A Tacoma and calling up RHP Emilio Pagan. ... A's RHP Chris Smith, 36, is scheduled to be selected from Triple-A Nashville to make his first major league start Saturday against rookie Mariners RHP Andrew Moore (1-1, 3.60 ERA). Smith has made 63 relief appearances in the majors since his debut with Boston in 2008. ... The Mariners didn't strike out in Thursday's series opener, the first time since 2006 they accomplished the feat. It was also the first time it had happened in the majors since Toronto did it on May 5, 2016, against Texas.