Eugenio Suarez and Jarred Kelenic each collected three hits and combined to drive in three runs to propel the Seattle Mariners to a 3-2 win on Saturday over the host Cleveland Guardians.
Boosted by an early three-run lead, Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales (1-0) worked 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run on six hits, while striking out five and walking three.
Paul Sewald got in a bit of a jam while closing out the game in the ninth inning for his second save. Amed Rosario collected a one-out single — his third hit of the game — and Josh Bell walked with two outs. But Sewald retired Josh Naylor on a grounder to first.
The Mariners have taken the first two games in the series. They struck quickly against Guardians right-hander Cal Quantrill (0-1), tagged for three runs in five innings.
Leading off the first inning, Julio Rodriguez and Ty France each singled. Suarez plated the first run with his RBI single, and Kelenic made it 2-0 with his run-scoring single.
In the second inning, France doubled and scored on Suarez’s RBI single.
After a rough start, Quantrill settled in and made it through five innings, retiring the final eight batters he faced.
The Guardians chipped back against Gonzales in the fifth inning. Andres Gimenez doubled to right and scored on Myles Straw’s one-out, two-base hit. Cleveland had a chance to do more damage in the inning after Steven Kwan walked. With two on and one out, Gonzales’ defense picked him up. Rosario blistered a liner earmarked for right center, but Rodriguez in center ran it down for the second out. Jose Ramirez then scorched a liner at shortstop J.P. Crawford, who made a lunging backhanded grab to keep the score at 3-1.
Cleveland got Gonzales out of the game with two outs in the sixth inning. Naylor walked and advanced to third on Gimenez’s double. Penn Murfee took over for Gonzales and retired pinch-hitter Will Brennan on a fly ball to right.
In the seventh inning, the Guardians made it a 3-2 deficit on Ramirez’s RBI double, which scored Straw, who walked to open the inning.
–Field Level Media
