By Tim Booth / Associated Press
SEATTLE — José Ramírez homered and sparked an eighth-inning comeback with an RBI double, Zach Plesac won for the first time since early June and the Cleveland Guardians rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.
Ramírez hit his 26th homer off Seattle starter Luis Castillo in the fourth, then slapped a 101 mph fastball from reliever Andrés Muñoz down the left-field line as part of Cleveland’s three-run eighth.
The big inning started with a walk to Steven Kwan and Amed Rosario’s single. Josh Naylor’s RBI groundout and Andrés Giménez’s sacrifice fly capped the outburst for the Guardians. Cleveland had scored four runs in the first 27 innings of the four-game series, then plated three against one of the top relievers in the American League.
Muñoz (2-5) had not allowed a run in his previous 10 appearances. Seattle had been 51-0 this season when leading after seven innings.
The rally handed Plesac (3-11) his first victory since June 5. The right-hander lost his previous seven decisions, but limited the Mariners to three hits over a season-high seven innings and struck out six.
The one issue for Plesac was all three of those hits left the yard. Eugenio Suárez homered leading off the second inning for his 24th of the season and rookie Julio Rodríguez hit a towering shot in the third for his 21st.
Jake Lamb, who took over at first base after Ty France was ejected, hit his first homer since being traded to his hometown team with a two-out shot in the seventh.
For Rodríguez, it was his first long ball since signing a massive contract that guarantees him $209.3 million and could be worth up to nearly $470 million over the life of the deal.
But that was all Seattle could manage.
James Karinchak pitched the eighth and Emmanuel Clase worked the ninth for his 30th save.
Castillo was dominant for six inning and only a high pitch count ended his night early.
Castillo allowed a pair of singles to Kwan, Ramírez’s long ball and a single by Naylor. He finished with 10 strikeouts, recording at least one in every inning and striking out the side in the third. His biggest strikeout was getting Rosario with runners at first and third to end the fifth.
SENT AWAY
France was ejected by plate umpire Lance Barrett in the middle of the fifth inning. France had been called out on strikes to end the fourth on a borderline pitch and had words for Barrett. After the top of the fifth, France apparently had more words for Barrett and was tossed.
It was the second straight day Seattle had an ejection, after Jesse Winker and manager Scott Servais were tossed on Friday.
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