CINCINNATI — On a day when the Cincinnati Reds honored Ken Griffey Jr., one-time teammate Franklin Gutierrez delivered the sort of majestic, tape-measure homer that aided Griffey’s path to the Hall of Fame.
Gutierrez rocked a 473-foot drive to left field Saturday that landed midway up the upper deck for a three-run homer that carried the Seattle Mariners to a 4-0 victory over the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
“Only two times in my career did I hit the ball like that,” Gutierrez said. “You don’t feel anything in the bat. Today, I think, was the longest homer that I’ve ever hit in my career. It’s amazing.”
The Mariners didn’t do much else offensively, but Gutierrez’s blast and an earlier solo shot by Leonys Martin proved sufficient for Felix Hernandez and a relay of three relievers.
Hernandez (4-3) pitched six shutout innings but needed to escape two bases-loaded jams by retiring Joey Votto. Each threat began with two outs and nobody on base when Hernandez couldn’t retire pitcher John Lamb.
“It shouldn’t happen,” Hernandez said. “But after they got the bases loaded, I just tried to make good pitches. Just calm myself. Try to get out of it.”
Vidal Nuno, Mike Montgomery and Joel Peralta closed out the victory by each working a one-two-three inning. The victory ensured the Mariners (25-17) of a winning road trip at 4-1 with one game remaining.
The Mariners also improved to 10-3-1 in series while winning for the 20th time in their last 29 games. They began the day with atop the American League West Division with a 11⁄2-game lead over second-place Texas.
One sobering note: Shortstop Ketel Marte left the game in the fifth inning after suffering a sprained left thumb on a slide at second base. X-rays revealed no break, but the Mariners have yet to decide whether he will require time on the disabled list.
“He’s going to miss a few days,” manager Scott Servais said. “We’re cautiously optimistic that he’s not going to be out too long, but he is going to miss a few days.”
The Reds marked Griffey’s induction later this summer into the Hall of Fame by giving away a dual bobblehead doll that depicted him in Mariners and Reds uniforms. It helped attract a crowd of 38,200.
The Mariners opened the scoring when Martin tomahawked an 0-1 cutter from Lamb (0-2) for a two-out homer in the second inning. Martin pulled the ball on a line over the right-field wall just inside the foul pole for a 1-0 lead.
Hernandez retired the first eight Reds before Lamb hit a squibber in front of the plate. Either Hernandez or catcher Chris Iannetta could have made the play. Instead, they looked at each other, and Lamb recorded a single.
Billy Hamilton then squirted a grounder through the left side for a single before a walk to Tyler Holt loaded the bases for Votto.
Hernandez escaped when he caught Votto’s low liner back through the box, but the gaffe on Lamb’s ball meant Hernandez threw 17 more pitches to end the inning.
Nelson Cruz opened the fourth inning with a liner that ricocheted off Lamb for a single. Dae-Ho Lee followed with a grounder past third baseman Eugenio Suarez that moved Cruz to third.
Initially, Lee was credited with a single, but a scoring change switched the call to an error on Suarez.
After Iannetta popped out to short left, Gutierrez crushed a 2-0 fastball to left field — and the Mariners led 4-0.
“I put a good swing on it,” he said. “I got into a good hitter’s count. He threw me a fastball, and I hit it really good.”
Hernandez created his next jam by walking Lamb with two outs in the fifth. When Hamilton singled and Holt walked, the Reds had the bases loaded again with two outs for Votto.
Again, Hernandez escaped. Votto grounded out to first. The Reds went down in order over the last four innings.
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