SEATTLE — Frustrated and shut down by All-Star Sonny Gray for the first four innings, the Seattle Mariners changed their approach to solve one of the top pitchers in the American League.
Jarred Kelenic’s two-run single capped Seattle’s big fifth inning against Gray, and Eugenio Suárez added a two-run homer in the seventh as the Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins 7-6 on Monday night.
The Mariners overcame a shaky first few innings on the mound from Logan Gilbert to hand Gray his second straight loss and snap the Twins’ three-game win streak coming out of the All-Star break.
“I thought the quality of at-bat got better as the game went on,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “It didn’t start off so good and Sonny Gray is really good. But after we made a few adjustments, understanding that you’re not going to hit the long ball off Sonny Gray. You’ve got to take your singles, work your walks and we were able to do that and put a big inning together.”
Minnesota made it interesting in the ninth when Max Kepler hit a three-run homer with two outs off reliever Ty Adcock to pull within 7-6. Seattle closer Paul Sewald entered and struck out Ryan Jeffers for his 19th save.
Gray cruised through four innings but fell apart in the fifth as Seattle sent nine batters to the plate and scored four times. Tesocar Hernández started the rally with a one-out double, Jose Caballero had an RBI single on a two-strike pitch and Julio Rodríguez laid off several borderline pitches to draw a walk with the bases loaded that tied the game at 2-all.
Kelenic followed by fighting off an inside fastball and dropping it into shallow left field to score a pair and break the tie.
Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez reacts after earning a bases-loaded walk against Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Sonny Gray during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Monday, July 17, 2023, in Seattle. Credit: AP/Stephen Brashear
“I was just trying to stay middle, the other way,” Kelenic said. “I…
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