Hot-handed Naquin leads Indians past Mariners
SEATTLE -- Cleveland rookie Tyler Naquin's fourth home run in his past six games broke a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning and the Indians overcame two home runs from Seattle's Robinson Cano to beat the Mariners 5-3 on Thursday night.
Naquin hit an 0-2 pitch from Mariners reliever Joaquin Benoit just over the right-field fence for a two-run shot that gave Cleveland a 4-2 lead in the eighth. All of his homers have come in June.
Naquin, who made his debut on April 5 and has been recalled from Triple-A twice since then, went 1-for-3 Thursday and is now batting .325 in 35 games with the Indians this season.
Jason Kipnis added an RBI single off Benoit to open up a 5-2 lead. Seattle got one run back before Cleveland closer Cody Allen came on with two outs in the eighth and got through a shaky ninth to earn his 13th save of the season.
Allen struck out Cano to strand runners on first and third -- the eighth and ninth Seattle runners left on base for the game -- in the ninth.
Veteran reliever Dan Otero (1-0) got the win, while Benoit (1-1) took the loss after serving up a home run for the third time this season.
Cano became the third Seattle player in as many nights to hit two home runs in a game with a pair of solo shots. He homered in the first and eighth innings, joining Nelson Cruz and Chris Iannetta as Mariners players this season with multi-homer games. Seattle's Adam Lind added a solo home run for the Mariners (33-27).
Cleveland first baseman Mike Napoli broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out, RBI single in the seventh. Napoli hit a 2-1 pitch from Seattle reliever Edwin Diaz to left field for a broken-bat single that scored Chris Gimenez from third for a 2-1 Indians lead.
Seattle's Lind tied the score 2-2 when he hit the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh into the center-field seats for his seventh home run of the season.
Cano's second homer of the game cut the Cleveland lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the eighth before Allen came on and got the Indians out of that jam.
Allen retired the first two batters in the ninth before issuing back-to-back singles to put Cano at the plate again with runners on first and third. Cano worked the count full before swinging at a low pitch outside of the strike zone. The pitch got away from Cleveland catcher Chris Gimenez, who was able to chase the ball down and throw Cano out at first to secure the win.
Cleveland (33-26) drew seven walks in the game, with three of them coming around to score.
Indians starter Josh Tomlin allowed two runs off nine hits over 6 1/3 innings but did not factor into the decision.
Two outfield throws that led to putouts at home plate -- one by each team -- highlighted the early innings as the teams were deadlocked 1-1 through the fifth.
Seattle jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Robinson Cano's two-out solo homer in the first inning. Cano took Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin's pitch 421 feet to center field for his 17th home run of the season.
The Mariners almost tacked on another run two hitters later, when Kyle Seager doubled with Nelson Cruz on first base, but Cruz was thrown out at home plate by shortstop Francisco Lindor to end the inning.
Cleveland threatened in the second when Seattle starting pitcher Nathan Karns ran into some control problems to load the bases with two outs. Mariners center fielder Norichika Aoki made a nice running catch in the left-center-field gap to get Seattle out of that jam.
Karns's control issues carried into the fifth, when he was pulled after issuing back-to-back walks with one out and the Mariners clinging to a 1-0 lead. Reliever Mike Montgomery came on, got the second out of the inning and walked a batter to load the bases before dodging a bullet when Cleveland's Jose Ramirez drilled a 1-2 pitch to deep right field -- only to see it drift two feet outside the foul pole.
Ramirez hit Montgomery's next pitch for a single to right, tying the score 1-1, but Lindor was thrown out at home plate trying to score from second base to end the inning.
The run was charged to Karns, who allowed one run and two hits and walked five over 4 1/3 innings.
NOTES: Cleveland C Yan Gomes (testicular contusion) was not in the lineup again Thursday. He also sat out Wednesday's game after taking a foul tip to the groin Tuesday night. ... Indians 3B Jose Ramirez (bruised shin) was back in action Thursday. ... Seattle 3B Kyle Seager served as designated hitter for the second time this season. UT Luis Sardinas filled in for Seager at third base. ... Mariners CF Leonys Martin, who is on the 15-day disabled list with a strained hamstring, was scheduled to play a rehab game at Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday but was scratched due to a wet field. Martin is eligible to come off the DL as soon as Friday, when Seattle begins a three-game series with the Rangers. ... The Mariners selected Mercer CF Kyle Lewis with the 11th overall pick in Thursday's Major League draft. Cleveland got Will Benson, a 6-foot-5, left-handed hitting high schooler from North Carolina, three picks later at No. 14.