J.P. Crawford and Ty France hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning as the Seattle Mariners rallied for a 3-2 victory against the visiting Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.
Oakland suffered its sixth straight loss and its winning percentage dropped to .200 this season (10-40 record).
Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales (4-1) put together a quality start, allowing two runs on five hits in six innings. Gonzales, who allowed eight runs in 1 2/3 innings of his previous start in Boston last Wednesday, walked one and struck out four against the A’s.
Paul Sewald pitched the ninth for his 10th save in as many opportunities in 2023.
A’s right-hander Luis Medina (0-3), making his fourth major league start, gave up three runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings with two walks and four strikeouts.
The A’s scored twice in the first inning. Esteury Ruiz led off by lining a single to left field and stole his major league leading 25th base of the season. With one out, Ramon Laureano lined a run-scoring single down the right field line and took second on the throw home. Laureano advanced to third on a groundout and scored as Carlos Perez grounded a two-out single to left.
It remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth, when the Mariners put together a two-out rally to take the lead. Tom Murphy lined a double to left and Crawford followed with a two-run shot into the first row of seats in right center on a 1-0 fastball to tie the score. France then hit a 1-2 slider off the out-of-town scoreboard beyond the bullpens in left center to give Seattle a 3-2 advantage.
A’s reliever Trevor May, activated from the injured list earlier in the day after being out since April 19 with anxiety issues, hit both France and Eugenio Suarez with pitches in the eighth inning but escaped without allowing a run. France, plunked on the outside of the left hand, left the game for a pinch runner.
–Field Level Media