SEATTLE — Austin Jackson is starting the settle in with the Seattle Mariners.
Acquired in a trade with the Detroit Tigers before the deadline, Jackson matched a career-high with four RBIs to lead the Mariners to a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
Jackson joined the Mariners in Baltimore on Aug. 1 and has started all 10 games since the trade. Now back in Seattle, Jackson is beginning to feel comfortable in his home clubhouse.
“Once we arrived here and got that first game here under our belts. We kind of settled in a little bit,” Jackson said of himself and fellow deadline acquisition Chris Denorfia. “Just seeing that we’re close (to a playoff spot), I think that gives us a lot of extra motivation to go out there and get those wins. I don’t think we could have gotten traded to a better team.”
Logan Morrison began a two-out rally for the Mariners in the second inning off Chicago’s John Danks (9-8) with a hard line drive single off the wall in right field. Infield singles by Chris Taylor and Jesus Sucre loaded the bases for Jackson.
A career .400 hitter against Danks, Jackson doubled down the left field line to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead. He finished 3 for 4.
“I can’t escape him,” Danks said. “I’ve thrown everything I know how to. I thought about taking my glove off and firing one in there right-handed just to give him another look. … He’s hit some good pitches off of me and definitely made me answer to some mistakes I made.”
Seattle starter Erasmo Ramirez was pulled mid-batter in the fifth inning as Dominic Leone entered to face Gordon Beckham with a 2-1 count. Leone got Beckham to ground into a double play to end the inning.
Leone (5-2) picked up the victory and Fernando Rodney earned his 33rd save.
Taylor drew a leadoff walk in the seventh inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sucre. Jackson singled to left as Taylor beat the throw home from Alejandro De Aza to give Seattle a 4-0 lead.
“He swung the bat extremely well. That’s the type of hitter he can be,” manager Lloyd McClendon said.
Tyler Flowers homered off Tom Wilhelmsen to lead off the seventh for Chicago.
Rodney allowed the first two runners to reach in the ninth. After two strikeouts, Conor Gillaspie singled to center to drive in Alexei Ramirez. Rodney then hit Flowers to load the bases before striking out Jordan Danks to seal the victory.
BECKHAM WEB GEM
Beckham made a diving stop of a grounder from Dustin Ackley to end the second inning. The second baseman laid out to his left and likely saved a run as Jackson was set to score from second if the ball had made its way into right field.
RAMIREZ OPTIONED
The Mariners optioned Erasmo Ramirez back to Triple-A Tacoma following his start against the White Sox. The team will make a corresponding move on Monday to add a position player to the roster.
UP NEXT
Mariners ace Felix Hernandez (12-3, 1.97 ERA) opens a key series in the race for the second wild card against Toronto. Hernandez is riding a major league-record 15 straight starts of at least seven innings pitched with two runs or less allowed.
