Rays 1, Mariners 0
SEATTLE -- Tampa Bay second baseman Logan Forsythe broke a scoreless tie with a leadoff home run in the top of the ninth inning, leading the Rays to a 1-0 win over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.
Forsythe hit a 2-1 pitch from struggling Mariners closer Fernando Rodney 398 feet into the left field stands. Reliever Kevin Jepsen came on to earn his second save in as many nights, despite giving up a leadoff triple to Mariners center fielder Austin Jackson.
After Jackson's triple into the gap in right-center, shortstop Brad Miller struck out and catcher Mike Zunino flew out to shallow right field. Jackson took a few steps off third on the flyout, but right fielder Steven Souza's throw to home was well ahead of him to preserve the lead.
Then Dustin Ackley popped out to end the game.
Seattle left nine runners on base while going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The Mariners (24-31) extended their season-long losing streak to seven games.
Tampa Bay (30-26) had just seven hits and had to overcome the loss of starter Jake Odorizzi to a strained oblique muscle in the fifth.
Seattle's best chance to break through before the ninth came in the bottom of the seventh, when the Mariners loaded the bases with a two-out walk and had second baseman Robinson Cano coming to the plate. But Cano grounded out. He was 0-for-4 and left six runners on base in the loss.
Mariners starter J.A. Happ turned in another impressive outing, with seven scoreless innings of six-hit ball, but he had to settle for his fifth consecutive no-decision. Happ walked one and struck out six.
Rodney (2-3) took the loss for Seattle.
Tampa Bay starter Jake Odorizzi left the game in the fifth inning with what appeared to be a strained back or oblique.
Odorizzi winced on his 75th pitch of the night, a fifth-inning pitch to Mariners first baseman Logan Morrison, and immediately grabbed his left hip as he twisted in pain. Manager Kevin Cash and a team trainer came out to check on Odorizzi, who came out of the game.
Odorizzi had cruised through the Mariners hitters, having not allowed a run through the first four innings. He gave up a leadoff single and a one-out walk in the fifth before the injury.
Reliever Xavier Cedeno came on for Odorizzi and retired Morrison and second baseman Robinson Cano as the fifth inning closed with the score tied 0-0.
Odorizzi was charged with four hits and one walk in 4 1/3 scoreless innings.
Tampa Bay's offense got off to a quick start, but the Rays couldn't capitalize on two singles in their first three at-bats of the game.
Left fielder Brandon Guyer led off with a single and moved to second on third baseman Evan Longoria's one-out single, but Guyer got caught between second and third base on a pickoff move and was subsequently tagged out. Seattle starter J.A. Happ got out of that jam, retiring eight consecutive batters to keep the Rays without a run into the fourth.
Morrison extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest by a Seattle player this season, with a third-inning single.
NOTES: Seattle CF Austin Jackson, who spent three weeks on the disabled list last month because of a sprained ankle, got Friday off to rest the ankle. ... Mariners 1B Logan Morrison was back in the lineup Friday after sitting out the previous night's game with back spasms. ... Rays OF Desmond Jennings was scheduled to be on his way to Colorado for a second opinion on the sore left knee that kept him off the field for the entire month of May. ... The six-game losing streak that the Mariners carried into Friday night was the franchise's longest since April 15-22, 2014, when Seattle lost eight in a row. ... Tampa Bay has faced four consecutive left-handed starters. That streak is expected to end Saturday night, when the Rays have an even bigger challenge in Mariners RHP Felix Hernandez.