CLEVELAND — The Seattle Mariners belted four homers in their highest-scoring game of the season.
Manager Scott Servais enjoyed the show.
“From top to bottom, this is a pretty interesting lineup,” he said. “It’s not just one guy. It was a nice ballgame all the way around.”
Jean Segura hit a two-run drive and matched a career high with four RBIs, helping the Mariners to a 12-4 victory over Carlos Carrasco and the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.
Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager and Ryon Healy also went deep for Seattle, which won for the fourth time in five games. Dee Gordon had two hits and scored three times, and Cruz collected four of the Mariners’ 12 hits.
Carrasco (4-1) lost for the first time since Aug. 27, ending a streak of 10 straight winning decisions. The right-hander allowed five runs, four earned, in three innings.
Carrasco said his back stiffened after he slipped on a step in the dugout on his way to the mound before the third. He struck out the side in the second, but gave up two runs and two hits, issued a walk and hit a batter in the third.
“I fell a little bit, so my back got a little bit stiff right there,” he said. “So, I felt a little bit different. I couldn’t throw my fastball. I think it was like 88-90 (mph), kind of stiff a little bit.”
Manager Terry Francona decided to pull Carrasco, who allowed a total of two earned runs in his previous three starts.
“Rather than make something that wasn’t a good day worse, we got him out of there and tried to piece it together the best we could,” Francona said.
Carrasco’s next scheduled start is Thursday when the Indians play a doubleheader against Toronto.
“We’re going to take it day by day.” he said. “So, I’ll come in (Sunday) see how it feels and then we’ll go from there.”
Mike Leake (3-2) allowed four runs in six innings in his second victory against the Indians this season. The right-hander also beat Cleveland on April 1 in Seattle, allowing two runs in seven innings.
Yonder Alonso homered and drove in three runs for Cleveland, which has alternated wins and losses over its last six games.
Gordon led off the first with a single before Segura homered on a 2-0 pitch. Robinson Cano’s towering drive to right was caught on the warning track by Tyler Naquin, but Cruz drove a 1-0 pitch over the wall in center.
Seattle’s designated hitter also homered off Carrasco at Safeco Field in the second game of the season.
“He’s one of the toughest pitchers in the league,” Cruz said. “The way we hit him is just one of those things in baseball that you can’t explain. We’ve got a pretty good lineup, though.”
Seager added a two-run shot in Seattle’s five-run fourth, and Healy hit his first homer of the season in the ninth. Healy was activated from the 10-day disabled list Thursday after being sidelined by a sprained ankle.
HE LIKES IT HERE
Seager continues to hit well at Progressive Field. He is batting .367 (36 for 98) with six homers and 15 RBIs in 25 career games at Cleveland’s ballpark.
Seager and his teammates were also organizing a team outing at a downtown bowling alley following the game.
EARLY HELP
The homers by Segura and Cruz gave Seattle a quick 3-0 lead, which Leake worked to his advantage.
“When you get a lead like that, you can go in more of an aggressive mode,” he said. “You can take some chances.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Indians: 1B Mike Napoli will have season-ending surgery Friday at the Cleveland Clinic to repair a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee. He got hurt playing for Triple-A Columbus. Napoli signed a minor league contract in spring training in hopes of being picked up by another team.
UP NEXT
Mariners LHP Marco Gonzalez (2-2, 4.37 ERA) takes on Indians RHP Josh Tomlin (0-3, 9.24 ERA) in the finale of the four-game series. Tomlin allowed a career high-tying four homers Tuesday in a 10-3 home loss to the Cubs.
