Rockies 4, Mariners 2
SEATTLE – Rookie catcher Dustin Garneau broke a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the seventh inning, and Colorado teammate Chad Bettis threw seven scoreless innings as the Rockies held on to beat the Mariners 4-2 on Friday night.
Garneau's second career home run also snapped a string of 24 consecutive scoreless innings by Mariners pitchers.
Bettis (7-5) allowed just three hits without giving up a run over seven innings, and left the game with a 3-0 lead. Reliever Christian Friedrich came on in the eighth and walked the first batter he faced before Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager hit his 24th home run of the season, a two-run shot that pulled the Mariners to within 3-2.
Five Colorado relievers finished off the win, with closer John Axford earning his 22nd save of the season after a 27-pitch bottom of the ninth.
After the Rockies added an insurance run on a wild pitch, scoring shortstop Daniel Descalso, in the top of the ninth, Axford took over with a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the inning. He gave up a one-out single to Seattle shortstop Brad Miller and a two-out walk to put the tying run at first base. Seager drew a full count before Axford struck him out to end the game.
The Rockies (59-82) used five seventh-inning hits, the biggest coming on Garneau's three-run homer, to take a 3-0 lead.
The Mariners came back to score two runs on Seager's homer in the eighth. His 24 home runs this season are one short of his career high, which he accumulated last year.
Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma was every bit as dominant as Bettis for six innings, but he hit a wall in the seventh. The Rockies had five one-out hits in a row to chase Iwakuma from the game after 97 pitches.
Iwakuma (7-4) allowed eight hits and three runs over 6 1/3 innings.
Seattle (68-74) lost for only the third time in 10 games and is now one loss away from matching its total from the entire 2014 season.
Colorado left fielder Corey Dickerson, designated hitter Justin Morneau and Descalso all had two hits as the Rockies piled up 11 of them on Seattle pitchers.
Neither offense could get much going in the early innings. The Mariners left runners stranded at second base in the second and third innings, while Colorado wasted a leadoff double in the fourth.
Seattle got a leadoff baserunner in the second inning, courtesy of an error on Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado, but ended up leaving runners stranded at first and second base. One inning later, center fielder James Jones got an unconventional double with one out, having squibbed a ball up the middle and under the glove of Descalso before legging out two bases, but the Mariners couldn't bring in a run.
The Rockies' best early chance came in the top of the fourth, when Dickerson led off with a double. Iwakuma intentionally walked slugger Carlos Gonzalez with one out, and then he got out of the inning as the game remained scoreless through the fifth.
The announced crowd was 19,876, marking the fourth time in as many games this homestand that Safeco Field has failed to hit the 20,000 mark.
NOTES: Colorado SS Jose Reyes was not in the lineup Friday because of a left Achilles' tendon strain, marking the second consecutive day he did not start. It's the first time since Reyes was traded from Toronto that he's been out of the lineup on back-to-back days. ... Seattle still hasn't officially named a starter for Sunday's series finale, but LHP James Paxton is the most likely candidate. Paxton has been on the disabled list since May 29 and would have to be activated before making the start. "It's trending toward Paxton starting on Sunday," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said before Friday's game. ... The Mariners shut out Texas on Wednesday and Thursday and went into the Colorado game seeking their first three-game shutout streak in club history. ... Mariners OF Franklin Gutierrez, who had been out of action for six days because of a pelvic condition, was not in the lineup Friday but was available to pinch-hit. McClendon said he hoped to have Gutierrez in the lineup this weekend.