DETROIT – Kyle Seager left Comerica Park with the first three-homer game of his career and he had no idea how it happened.
Seager homered in the fourth, sixth and ninth innings, driving in six runs as the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 11-6 on Tuesday night.
“I don’t remember ever hitting three in a game at any level,” he said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever done it.”
Seager’s big night helped starter Yusei Kikuchi avoid taking a loss in a game he left early with his team trailing.
Kikuchi yielded nine hits in 3⅓ innings and blew the Mariners’ two-run lead after giving up long balls to John Hicks and Jake Rogers in the fourth.
“The balls were responsive, they just found a sweet spot where it mattered,” Kikuchi said. “My change-up had good movement, but not my slider. My slider is my go-to pitch but it was a little difficult today.”
The homers were the 30th and 31st allowed by Kikuchi this season, tying him with teammate Mike Leake for the most in MLB, one ahead of Matthew Boyd, who got the start for the Tigers and gave up four homers.
“He has to execute pitches, not throw the ball down the middle,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “This is on him — he’s pitched a long time and he knows what he needs to do.”
Seager’s first two homers were routine, but he got some help on the third one. His line drive to left-center field didn’t have the distance to clear the fence, but center fielder Niko Goodrum and left fielder Brandon Dixon collided on the warning track. The ball hit Goodrum’s glove and bounced over the fence.
“I was running, so I didn’t see it,” Seager said. “Everyone told me they knocked it over, but I’m going to have to find a replay online. When I tell the story, it’s going to be a no-doubter.”
Seager and Tom Murphy hit back-to-back homers in the fourth and sixth innings, but Tigers reliever Jose Cisnero walked Murphy in the ninth. No teammates have ever hit back-to-back homers three times in one game.
“That was a lot of fun,” Murphy said. “I’ve never been a part of anything like that.”
Pirates 10, Angels 7
In Anaheim, Shohei Ohtani drove in two runs and scored twice, but the Angels couldn’t protect the lead.
Ohtani put the Angels on board with an RBI double in the first and came around to make it 3-0 before the frame ended. Los Angeles’ designated hitter also belted a run-scoring triple in the second.
The Pirates turned it around with a four-run rally against Los Angeles reliever Taylor Cole (2-4) in the fifth. The Angels bullpen gave up a combined seven runs as the club’s offense fizzled out.
“The lineup just couldn’t string anything together, that’s why we lost,” Ohtani said.
In the ninth, Ohtani reached on a force out, stole second for his 10th stolen base of the season and crossed the plate on Justin Upton’s two-run single before a game-ending double play squashed the comeback effort.
“It’s not a bad thing to aim to be aggressive and go for a base,” Ohtani said of reaching double digits in stolen bases for the second straight season. “I want to pile them up one by one.”
Yankees 8, Orioles 3
In New York, Domingo German pitched seven strong innings to become the first 16-game winner in the majors and the Yankees ran their winning streak over Baltimore to 15 games.
German allowed two runs, five hits, struck out seven, walked one and won his career-high seventh straight decision.
Red Sox 7, Indians 6 (10)
In Cleveland, Jackie Bradley Jr. homered with one out in the 10th inning as Boston edged the Indians after blowing a late lead and potential win for ace Chris Sale.
Rafael Devers had six hits — four doubles — and made a costly error at third base for the Red Sox, who won for just the fourth time in 16 games.
Astros 6, White Sox 2 (1st)
White Sox 4, Astros 1 (2nd)
In Chicago, Ivan Nova tossed a four-hitter and the White Sox took advantage of an injury to Houston ace Gerrit Cole for a win and split of a doubleheader.
The Astros won the first game behind six solid innings from Zack Greinke in his second start with the team and solo home runs by George Springer and José Altuve.
Cole didn’t start because of right hamstring discomfort. Instead, righty Chris Devenski (2-1) took the mound and lasted just two innings in taking the loss.
Blue Jays 3, Rangers 0
In Toronto, five Blue Jays pitchers combined on a five-hitter, Teoscar Hernandez and Billy McKinney hit back-to-back home runs, and the Blue Jays beat slumping Texas.
Toronto outfielder Randal Grichuk celebrated his 28th birthday with a solo home run as the Blue Jays won for the fifth time in seven games.
Braves 5, Mets 3
In Atlanta, Ronald Acuna Jr. homered and threw out a runner at the plate to back Max Fried’s fifth straight win, leading the Braves past New York.
Acuna sparked a two-run first against Zack Wheeler by leading off with a long single off the wall in right-center, coming around to score his 100th run of the season. In the fourth, he lined a 409-foot (125-meter) drive into the left-field seats for his 34th homer.
Phillies 4, Cubs 2
In Philadelphia, J.T. Realmuto homered and drove in the tiebreaking run with an RBI double in the seventh inning to lift the Phillies over Chicago.
Nationals 3, Reds 1
In Washington, Brian Dozier hit his 17th home run and Juan Soto hit a second-deck shot for his 25th , and Joe Ross extended his scoreless streak to 17⅓ innings.
Ross (3-3) allowed one run and five hits in his 6⅔ innings; the run came when the final batter the righty faced, Jose Iglesias, delivered an RBI single.
Dodgers 15, Marlins 1
In Miami, rookie Will Smith had his first two-homer game, and Los Angeles twice hit back-to-back homers in a rout of Miami.
Cody Bellinger tied a career high with his 39th home run and Justin Turner hit his 20th for the Dodgers, who totaled six homers, a season-high 13 extra-base hits and no singles until there were two out in the ninth.
The six homers Los Angeles hit tied the record for most by an opposing team at pitcher-friendly Marlins Park, which opened in 2012.
In Other Games
Diamondbacks 9, Rockies 3
Cardinals 2, Royals 0
Twins 7, Brewers 5
Giants 3, Athletics 2
Rays 7, Padres 5
LATEST BASEBALL STORIES
Source : Baseball – The Japan Times