DENVER (AP) - A road trip that began with a whimper ended with a bang for the suddenly resurgent Seattle Mariners.
Kyle Seager homered and drove in four runs, Robinson Cano also connected and Seattle beat the Colorado Rockies 10-4 on Tuesday for its third straight win.
“It definitely feels good,” Seager said. “Nobody likes losing, so anytime you win some games you feel good.”
The Mariners were scuffling while dropping seven of eight. After beating Washington to avoid a three-game sweep, Boston blanked them on consecutive days. Seattle then responded with 21 runs in the last three games to finish .500 on its eight-game trip.
“I said the other night in Boston I thought we hit rock bottom,” manager Scott Servais said. “I certainly believe that, and we’ve turned it around ever since.”
Jean Segura had four hits for the Mariners. Ben Gamel, who replaced slugger Nelson Cruz in the second inning, and Guillermo Heredia each had three of Seattle’s season-high 19 hits.
“It gets contagious,” Seager said. “Look at Segura. He had four hits today and could have easily had a couple of more. He gets the ball rolling and we can all feed off of that. He just needs to get four hits every game and we’ll be pretty good.”
Ariel Miranda (5-2) pitched five solid innings to help the Mariners sweep two games in Denver, pinning a rare series loss on Colorado. It was just the Rockies’ third defeat in 17 series and first since April 24-27 against Washington.
Colorado, which dropped out of first place in the NL West for the first time since May 2, can even the score when the home-and-home matchup moves to Seattle for two games starting Wednesday.
The Mariners jumped on Rockies lefty Tyler Anderson (3-5). Seager hit a two-run homer in Seattle’s three-run second, and his two-run double in the third helped the Mariners go up 6-0.
“Just didn’t have very good command, so a lot of things were up in the zone because I had a hard time throwing it. So I had to go middle and hope for the best,” Anderson said.
Colorado scored twice in the fifth, but Cano led off the sixth with his 10th home run.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mariners: Cruz left the game with right calf tightness, but Servais said the slugger should be fine to play Wednesday. … RHP Felix Hernandez (right shoulder inflammation) threw a bullpen during Servais’ media availability. Servais said Hernandez was throwing mainly fastballs and changeups, and no breaking balls.
Rockies: Placed RHP Adam Ottavino on the 10-day DL with right shoulder inflammation and recalled RHP Carlos Estevez from Triple-A Albuquerque. Ottavino said the move was to prevent the injury from becoming a long-term problem. “The last time I tried to pitch through something, I was out for a month,” he said. “The idea is to be out for days.” … Manager Bud Black said C Ryan Hanigan should be fine after twisting his left ankle blocking the plate in the seventh inning. He was lifted for a pinch hitter in the bottom half.
LEADING MAN
Colorado outfielder and leadoff man Charlie Blackmon was chosen the NL player of the week. Blackmon hit .400 with three home runs and 12 RBIs to help the Rockies go 5-2 last week. He leads the majors in hits (72) and triples (eight), and entered Tuesday tops in RBIs with 46.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP James Paxton (3-0, 1.43 ERA) is expected to be activated from the disabled list to start when these teams meet in Seattle on Wednesday. Paxton has missed four weeks with a left forearm strain.
Rockies: Rookie RHP Antonio Senzatela (7-1, 3.19) is tied for the NL lead in wins after pitching eight shutout innings against St. Louis on Friday night.
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