OAKLAND, Calif. — Franklin Gutierrez has had some success against Scott Kazmir. The rest of the Seattle Mariners need to study how Gutierrez handles the left-hander.
Gutierrez had each of Seattle’s two hits against Kazmir, who pitched eight sparkling innings in Oakland’s 4-0 win on Thursday night.
“He threw me some good pitches,” Gutierrez said. “I was able to handle one of them. At that point all I am thinking about is getting on base. He’s a little different than I remember. He’s throwing more cutters.”
Josh Phegley had a two-run single and Mark Canha added an RBI triple for the A’s, who ended a five-game losing streak against the Mariners.
Kazmir (5-5) retired 21 of his first 22 batters, allowing only a one-out double to Gutierrez on a 1-2 pitch in the fifth. Gutierrez also singled leading off the eighth but was erased on a double play.
Gutierrez went 2 for 3 and is 9 for 21 in his career against Kazmir.
Seattle was coming off consecutive shutouts against San Diego and took an 18-inning scoreless streak into the series opener against Oakland.
The A’s stopped that roll after Mariners starter Roenis Elias (4-6) retired the first two batters. Ben Zobrist drew a two-out walk, and Billy Butler and Josh Phegley followed with back-to-back doubles to give Oakland an early lead.
“It was outside and he just stuck the bat out there and blooped it into right,” Elias said through an interpreter about Phegley’s hit. “It didn’t work out for me.”
Kazmir needed only 31 pitches to record the first nine outs, struck out each of Seattle’s first four hitters at least once and fanned slugger Nelson Cruz twice.
Elias, who threw 32 pitches in the first inning alone, gave up three hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked one.
“He gave us what he could considering the first inning,” Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. “The tough thing about the first is having two outs, two strikes and no one on base. He ends up giving up two runs and it cost us the ballgame.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: SS Chris Taylor was called up from Triple-A Tacoma and placed in the starting lineup. Taylor batted ninth and went 0 for 2. … INF Willie Bloomquist was designated for assignment. Bloomquist played in 35 games and was hitting just .159 with four RBIs.
Athletics: RHP Sonny Gray rejoined the ballclub after being hospitalized for two days while being treated for salmonella. The team has still not determined when Gray will make his next start. … Oakland acquired reliever Cody Martin from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for international slot money. Martin was assigned to Triple-A Nashville. To make room on the 40-man roster, 1B Nate Freiman was designated for assignment.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP J.A. Happ (3-5) gets the ball on Friday night in the second game of the four-game series. He is winless in his previous four starts but hasn’t gotten much run support. Seattle has scored only nine runs over Happ’s last six appearances.
Athletics: RHP Jesse Chavez (4-7) gets the start for Oakland. He has a 1.98 ERA when pitching on four days’ rest this season. It is the third-lowest mark in the AL.
