SEATTLE — Tyler Naquin golfed a two-run home run off reliever Joaquin Benoit in the eighth inning to lift the Cleveland Indians to a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.
Naquin managed to coax just enough carry out of a changeup low and out of the strike zone from Benoit to carry the wall in right field and give the Indians a 4-2 lead.
Dan Otero (1-0) picked up the victory in relief of starter Josh Tomlin. Cody Allen worked out of two jams to earn his 13th save of the season.
Benoit (1-1) walked Rajai Davis with one out in the eighth inning before Naquin’s blast gave Cleveland the lead. A throwing error by Benoit allowed Chris Gimenez to reach base and ultimately score on a single by Jason Kipnis to increase the lead to 5-2.
Robinson Cano’s second solo homer of the game — this one off Bryan Shaw — closed the gap to 5-3 in the bottom half of the inning. Kyle Seager singled and Lind walked to force Cleveland to bring Allen in early, but he forced Ketel Marte to ground out to end the inning.
Norichika Aoki and Seth Smith singled off Allen with two outs but Allen got Cano to strike out to seal the victory.
Cano homered to center field off Tomlin in the first inning to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead. After a single by Nelson Cruz, Seager came inches from a home run as his fly ball landed on the yellow line of the wall in left field and caromed back into play. Davis and Francisco Lindor combined to throw out Cruz at the plate to end the inning and limit the damage.
The walks caught up to starter Nathan Karns in the fifth inning. After striking out Gimenez to open the inning, walks to Carlos Santana and Kipnis ended Karns’ night. With the bases loaded, Jose Ramirez singled to right field to score Santana but Lindor was thrown out at the plate by Cruz to end the inning and keep the game tied 1-1.
Karns lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run and two hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
Cleveland grabbed the lead off reliever Edwin Diaz in the seventh inning. Gimenez walked and Lindor doubled to put runners on second and third. Mike Napoli’s broken bat infield single plated Gimenez to give the Indians the 2-1 lead.
The advantage was short-lived as Lind crushed the first pitch from Tomlin over the wall in right-center field to even the game at 2-2.
Tomlin allowed two runs and nine hits with four strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Indians: C Yan Gomes is still sore after suffering contused testicles in Tuesday night’s game. A follow-up examination showed no serious damage, but he wasn’t expected to be available Thursday night, according to manager Terry Francona. … 3B Jose Ramirez was back in the lineup Thursday after being scratched with a sore ankle on Wednesday. Ramirez fouled a ball off his ankle on Tuesday night. … RHP Danny Salazer threw well after missing Tuesday’s start due to shoulder fatigue. The Indians skipped Salazar’s last start and called up Cody Anderson for a spot start.
Mariners: CF Leonys Martin was scratched from a rehab outing with Triple-A Tacoma due to a wet field. Martin has been on the DL since May 27 with a hamstring strain. Manager Scott Servais said he wouldn’t be hesistant to activate Martin on Friday without a rehab outing.
UP NEXT
Indians: RHP Corey Kluber (5-6, 3.84 ERA) will get the ball against the Los Angeles Angels. Kluber didn’t allow a run in his last start against the Kansas City Royals. Kluber pitched six innings with two hits, two walks and six strikeouts. He has picked up the victory in three of his last four starts.
Mariners: RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (4-5, 4.13 ERA) will make his second consecutive start against the Texas Rangers. Iwakuma took the loss despite a strong outing last Sunday against Texas. Iwakuma allowed one earned run and four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. He has pitched seven innings in each of his last three starts.
