Moore solid in debut, Cano homers twice, M’s win 5th straight

Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 22, 2017

Associated Press

SEATTLE — Robinson Cano hit a grand slam and a two-run homer, Andrew Moore pitched seven effective innings to win in his big league debut, and the Seattle Mariners held off the Detroit Tigers 9-6 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.

Cano’s seventh-inning grand slam off Francisco Rodriguez, his 13th homer, put the Mariners up 9-3. His two-run shot off Daniel Norris (4-5) in the third staked Moore to a 5-1 lead.

Moore (1-0), a surprise call-up Wednesday from Triple-A Tacoma, allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings. The 23-year-old right-hander, a second-round pick in 2015 out of Oregon State, struck out four and walked none. He began the season in Double-A, then went 3-1 in eight starts at Tacoma.

The Mariners moved above .500 for the first time this season at 38-37.

Detroit got within three runs at 9-6 in the eighth with four consecutive two-out hits against Max Povse, also making his debut. Povse, called up from Double A on Sunday, allowed a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera and an RBI single to Justin Upton. Tony Zych got the final out of the eighth and Steve Cishek pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.

Norris allowed five runs on five hits in six innings as the Tigers lost their season-high sixth straight.

The Mariners capitalized on Norris’ lack of command for three runs in the second. Nelson Cruz drew a leadoff walk and Danny Valencia worked a one-out walk. Ben Gamel followed with a two-run double to right-center, extending his hitting streak to 14 games. Guillermo Heredia then singled in Gamel.

Ian Kinsler got a run back for Detroit with two outs in the third with his eighth homer.

Mitch Haniger singled with one out in the bottom half and Cano then lined a 2-1 pitch over the wall in center.

The Tigers pulled within 5-3 in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Jose Iglesias and a run-scoring single by Kinsler.