SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh and Luis Torrens hit back-to-back homers, Dylan Moore scored the go-ahead run on consecutive wild pitches and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3 on Friday night.
Seattle’s Yusei Kikuchi struck out a career-high 12 and Oakland’s Frankie Montas fanned 10. Neither starter figured in the decision in a game that included punches thrown in the stands during a fight that attracted a lot of views on social media.
Moore manufactured the tiebreaking run by disrupting the A’s with his baserunning. Pinch-hitting in the seventh, he hustled out an infield single with two outs, stole his 15th base and scored on a pair of wild pitches by reliever Jake Diekman (2-2).
“I try to keep that annoyingness level up,” Moore said.
Seattle snapped Oakland’s three-game winning streak and is a major league-best 21-8 in one-run games. The Mariners felt the rally showed they’re starting to reel in their AL West rivals.
“I think as a team we’re trying to get up to that level,” Moore said.
A’s manager Bob Melvin said of Diekman: “With the sliders, he was trying not to hang them.”
Instead, the threw them in the dirt, an outcome Mariners manager Scott Servais said the team suspected from advanced scouting reports.
“Diekman’s not great at holding runners,” Servais said. “That’s really not his forte.”
Raleigh’s two-run shot to the second deck in right field in the second inning came with Ty France aboard following Montas’ only walk. Servais called the first homer of the promising rookie catcher’s career “an absolute bomb.” It measured 444 feet.
Torrens, another career catcher playing first base, followed with his 12th of the season.
Matt Chapman homered in the A’s third. Matt Olson hit his 26th homer in the fourth, then Mark Canha doubled home Jacob Wilson in the fifth to make it 3-all. Wilson scored from first when Raleigh bobbled J.P. Crawford’s perfect one-hopper on the relay from left field, which arrived about 15 feet in front of the runner.
The bobble cost Kikuchi the win. He had allowed the A’s just one run over 18 innings in three starts the last two seasons coming into the matchup. He was especially effective with his changeup, a pitch he said he barely threw in his last matchup with Oakland.
“It was a great pitch today,” Raleigh said. “He was able to locate it for strikes and it had nasty movement. … It was a deadly pitch.”
Paul Sewald (6-2) struck out Elvis Andrus with the bases loaded in the seventh and fanned two more in the eighth. Kendall Graveman pitched the ninth for his 10th save.
MONTERO MOVING ON
The Mariners designated reliever Rafael Montero for assignment, ending his short tenure with the team. Seattle acquired Montero from Texas last December in a trade, but he never found a groove. He was 5-3 with seven saves and a 7.27 ERA.
“I have to say without a doubt in all my years in the big leagues, he’s a tremendous person, and the most unlucky pitcher I’ve ever been around when you look at the numbers and how well they worked out,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “But I’ve often said this is a do-good league. You do good, you stay, and it’s about results.”
The Mariners activated RHP Casey Sadler (right shoulder impingement) from the 60-day injured list. The reliever was 0-1 with a 1.64 ERA in 11 appearances before going to the list May 2.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: LF Chad Pinder (strained right hamstring) has resumed all baseball activities, but manager Bob Melvin’s not ready to start talking timetables for return. Pinder’s been on the 10-day IL since July 8. “The running portion of it is most difficult for him and the one we have to be most careful of,” Melvin said. “It still comes along probably slower than anything else and based on the fact that he’s had hamstring injuries before to both sides, we have to be pretty careful with him.”
UP NEXT
Athletics: RHP Chris Bassitt (10-3, 3.31) returns to the mound after losing in his last outing, ending a 10-game win streak.
Mariners: Rookie RHP Logan Gilbert (4-2, 3.50) is on the mound. He’s 4-0 in his last nine starts — Seattle has won all nine of those games.
