News

Leake pitches into 9th, Mariners beat Rays 5-4

Seattle Mariners' Ryon Healy (27) is greeted at the dugout by Guillermo Heredia, second from right, after Healy hit a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the sixth inning of a baseball game Saturday, June 2, 2018, in Seattle. Photo: Associated Press/Ted S. Warren


ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Mike Leake pitched into the ninth inning, Mitch Haniger homered and drove in three, and the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 on Thursday night.

Leake (6-3) was lifted with a 5-1 lead after allowing his eighth hit, a leadoff double in the ninth to Wilson Ramos. Johnny Field hit a three-run double off Alex Colome before the former Rays’ closer got a game-ending grounder from Daniel Robertson.

Haniger has 46 RBIs, one off his career high set last season. The Mariners won for the 10th time in 13 games.

Robertson homered for the Rays, who have scored 16 runs during a seven-game losing streak. The slide includes a three-game sweep last weekend in Seattle.

Seattle took a 3-0 lead in the second off Austin Pruitt (1-3). Dee Gordon hit a sacrifice fly, and then Jean Segura scored from first base on Haniger’s two-run single — a ball that second baseman Joey Wendle dived for and knocked down in shallow right field.

Denard Span, playing at Tropicana Field for the first time since being traded with Colome by Tampa Bay to Seattle on May 25th, made it 4-0 with a solo homer in the third.

After Robertson had a leadoff shot in the third, Haniger got the run back with a solo drive in the fifth.

Pruitt entered in the second after bullpen starter Ryne Stanek worked out of a bases-loaded one-out jam during the first.

Pruitt gave up five runs and seven hits in seven innings.

With Chris Archer (left abdominal strain) and Jake Faria (left oblique strain) both on the disabled list, Tampa Bay is using just Blake Snell and Nate Eovaldi in regular starting roles.

UP NEXT

Mariners: LHP Marco Gonzales (6-3) will start the second of the four-game set with Tampa Bay on Friday night. He has allowed a combined one earned run over 26 innings in his last four starts.

Rays: Reliever Wilmer Font (0-0) will become Tampa Bay’s 13th pitcher to start a game this season in its third consecutive bullpen day Friday night.

Recent Headlines

1 day ago in Sports

Commanders’ Wise is out for the season and team believes Ekeler tore his Achilles, AP source says

Washington Commanders defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. will miss the rest of the season after having quadriceps surgery, and the team believes running back Austin Ekeler tore his right Achilles tendon in a loss to the Green Bay Packers but is awaiting tests to confirm the severity of that injury, a person with knowledge of the situations told The Associated Press on Friday.

2 days ago in Sports

Jordan Love and Tucker Kraft lead the way in Packers’ 27-18 victory over Commanders

Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers have delivered a strong opening statement to the rest of the NFL. It helps that he's not facing the kind of pass rush that his teammates are bringing to opposing quarterbacks.

2 days ago in Sports

WNBA playoffs: New York aims to repeat, Minnesota seeks redemption, Clark sidelined

The WNBA playoffs are set to begin Sunday with New York looking to become the fourth team to repeat as champions and Minnesota trying to avenge last season's heartbreaking loss in the Finals.

3 days ago in Sports

Paul Skenes tops 200 strikeouts as Pirates manage his workload

After surpassing 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career, Pirates ace Paul Skenes admitted it was good to get a breather. The NL Cy Young front-runner reached 203, fanning eight Orioles batters in Pittsburgh's 2-1, 10-inning loss to Baltimore on Wednesday night.

3 days ago in Sports

NBA will not rush judgment in Kawhi Leonard investigation, Commissioner Adam Silver says

The NBA will not rush to any judgment in its probe of whether a business relationship between Kawhi Leonard and a California company was legitimate or merely a way for the Los Angeles Clippers to circumvent salary cap rules, Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday.