DETROIT (AP) — Cal Raleigh sparked a six-run third with a solo homer and capped it with a sacrifice fly as the Seattle Mariners rolled past the Detroit Tigers 9-3 on Tuesday night.
Ty France added three hits, including his 16th homer, and scored three runs with two RBIs. Carlos Santana had a two-run homer for Seattle, which has won four of its last five games.
In his first full major-league season, Raleigh has 19 home runs.
“He’s a phenomenal catcher and for him to have at-bats that he’s having, it’s big for the team,” France said. “The biggest thing is just having that confidence of ‘I belong in the big leagues’ and he’s definitely running with it.”
France has homered in back-to-back games after hitting just one the rest of the month.
“I was hoping it would carry over from what he did on Sunday and it started with that first swing tonight,” manager Scott Servais said.
George Kirby (6-3) allowed only two hits in five scoreless innings. Chris Flexen pitched four innings of relief for his first save.
Tigers starter Matt Manning (1-2) gave up seven runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. Rookie Riley Greene extended his hitting streak to eight games with an eighth-inning RBI triple.
Manning gave up just one run and three hits in seven innings against the Los Angeles Angels in his previous outing.
“He threw a couple of loose breaking balls that got hit and gave up some two-strike hits,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “Just a bad night for him. Just looked like he was off from the get-go.”
France’s one-out homer in the second put Seattle on top. It travelled an estimated 438 feet to right-center.
“I was running hard,” France said. “It’s tough to go there. I knew I hit it well but this park’s big.”
Raleigh’s homer in the third was followed by five hits from the next six batters, including consecutive RBI singles from Mitch Haniger, Eugenio Suarez and France. Adam Frazier’s single off Will Vest and Raleigh’s sacrifice fly capped the outburst.
“It’s great to see,” Servais said. “Just keep the line moving. Everybody contributing and having good at-bats and barreling the balls up. We just haven’t done that recently. Sometimes it just takes a night like that to get everybody confident and relaxed again.”
Santana homered off Daniel Norris in the fifth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: SS J.P. Crawford was held out of the lineup due to a strained pectoral muscle. Manager Scott Servais is hopeful Crawford can return to action on Wednesday. “He’s feeling better,” Servais said. “I thought it would be best to keep him out today.”
Tigers: OF Austin Meadows (Achilles strains) is working out at the ballpark and could soon go on another rehab assignment. Meadows hasn’t played since June 15.
ROSTER MOVES
Mariners: OF Dylan Moore was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Aug. 29, due to a right oblique strain. INF Abraham Toro was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma and started at 2B on Tuesday. Toro had one hit and scored a run in four at-bats.
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Audio difficulties rendered the on-field microphones useless prior to the game, so the fans scattered around the ballpark aided with the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP Marco Gonzales (9-12, 3.97 ERA), who has won his last two starts, will pitch the middle game of the series. He’s 1-3 with a 3.77 ERA in five career starts against the Tigers.
Tigers: LHP Tyler Alexander (3-8, 4.83 ERA) will look to bounce back on Wednesday from his worst start this season. He surrendered seven runs and eight hits, including three home runs, in three innings against Texas on Friday.
