Seager’s Three Home Run Night Carries Seattle Past Detroit 11-6
Game one of a three-game series with the Tigers began Tuesday evening in Detroit.
Yusei Kikuchi got the start for the Mariners, and he was given the hook after just three innings.
The fourth inning is where things got interesting. In the top half, Kyle Seager and Tom Murphy hit back-to-back home runs to give the Mariners a 3-1 lead.
The Detroit bats came alive in the home half of the inning. Kikuchi gave up three earned runs in the inning before being pulled from the game.
Zac Grotz came in for relief with Detroit leading 4-3. A wild pitch by Grotz scored another run for the Tigers, which gave them a 5-3 lead heading into the fifth.
A Jordy Mercer RBI double extended the Tigers lead to 6-3. Grotz pitched well, striking out three and allowing one earned run through 1.2 innings.
A combination of five different Mariners pitchers took the mound throughout the rest of the game, giving up just two hits and no runs.
The Mariners bats started to light up in the top of the sixth with another back-to-back showing from Seager and Murphy. Seager hit a 3-run bomb to tie the game at 6, while Murphy’s solo shot gave Seattle a lead they would not relinquish.
The Mariners didn’t slow down in the sixth. Tim Lopes and Mallex Smith each hit RBI doubles to increase the Mariners lead to 9-6 heading into the bottom half of the sixth inning.
The scoring slowed down until Seager’s final plate appearance in the ninth, which capped off a historic three home run evening.
Tuesday’s game marks the first time in Kyle Seager’s career that he hit three home runs in a single game. The last Mariner to hit three home runs in a game was Jose Lopez on Sept. 22, 2010.
Final score: Mariners 11, Tigers 6.
Winning Pitcher, (1-0) Zac Grotz: 1.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 K, 1 BB
Losing Pitcher, (6-9) Matthew Boyd: 5.1 IP, 6 ER, 4 K, 2 BB
Seattle takes on the Tigers Wednesday for game two of a three-game series. Pregame coverage starts Wednesday at 3 p.m. on Freedom 970.
Here are the highlights from the game:
Crawford RBI single top of the 3rd, 1-0 M’s
Cabrera RBI double bottom of the 3rd, 1-1
Seager (first of three)
Murphy goes back-to-back with Seager top of the 4th, 3-1 M’s
Hicks solo HR bottom of the 4th, 3-2 M’s
Rogers 2-run HR bottom of the 4th, 4-3 T’s
Mercer RBI double bottom of the 5th, 6-3 T’s
Seager 3-run (2nd HR of the night) HR top of the 6th, 6-6
Murphy solo HR top of the 6th, 7-6 M’s (2nd time Seager and Murphy go back-to-back in the game)
Seager 2-run HR top of the 9th, 11-6 M’s (Seager’s third HR of the game, first time in his career)
Final Call, 11-6 Mariners Win!!