Mariners hold off Athletics in home opener
Published 1:30 am Friday, July 31, 2020
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Taijuan Walker threw one-hit ball over seven innings, Kyle Lewis had his sixth straight multi-hit game, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 5-3 on Friday night.
Walker (1-1) was dominant making his first start in Seattle since the end of the 2016 season before being traded to Arizona. Walker struck out eight and walked two. The lone hit was Ramon Laureano’s double leading off the fourth inning, but he was stranded at third after Walker made a good defensive play to snag Mark Canha’s comebacker for the final out of the inning.
Walker’s best inning came when he struck out the side in the fifth after he was given a 2-0 lead. It was Walker’s first win since Sept. 6, 2017, against the Dodgers while pitching for Arizona, before Tommy John surgery cost him most of the past two seasons.
Reliever Bryan Shaw stumbled in the eighth giving up a two-run triple to Marcus Semien and Laureano’s sacrifice fly. That was all Oakland would get as Taylor Williams pitched the ninth for his second save.
While Walker was overpowering on the mound, Lewis continued to rack up hits at the plate. Lewis singled and scored from first base on Kyle Seager’s two-run double in the fourth inning. In the fifth, Lewis lined an RBI single to center to score J.P. Crawford.
Lewis has 15 hits in the first eight games.
Oakland starter Sean Manaea lasted just 4.1 innings, giving up six hits and five runs, but only three were earned. Manaea (0-2) set down the first nine batters in order, but ran into trouble in the fourth and was lifted an inning later after Crawford’s second single.
