Takeaway
The Mariners jumped to a 4-0 lead but couldn’t hold on and fell 6-5 to the Dodgers in 10 innings Monday in Los Angeles to drop to 2-2 on their six-game road trip. Alex Guerrero delivered the walk-off RBI single after Seattle (3-4) (box score) had won the past two games against the Athletics in extra innings.
Essential moment
Dodgers OF Andre Ethier began the bottom of the 10th with a double. After Yasiel Puig grounded out, reliever Dominic Leone, recalled from Triple-A Tacoma Monday, intentionally walked Adrian Gonzalez and walked Howie Kendrick to load the bases. Rookie LHP Tyler Olson entered and struck out OF Carl Crawford before Guerrero delivered a soft single off a pitch out of the strike zone.
Hitters
Cruz continued his power tear with a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the fourth for a 3-0, his fourth. It marked the third consecutive game in which he homered.
3B Kyle Seager followed Cruz’s second blast with a solo shot that landed deep in the right field seats to make it 4-0. In the fifth, LF Dustin Ackley added his third home run of the season, a solo shot. All runs came via the longball against Dodgers RHP Brandon McCarthy (seven innings, five runs, six hits, 10 strikeouts) but were offset it by 15 strikeouts.
Pitchers
In his second start, LHP James Paxton breezed through three shutout innings, then gave up three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth on a Puig solo home run and a Kendrick RBI single, which tied it at 5. The Ladner, B.C. native (0-1) allowed five runs on six hits and two walks over 6.1 frames. He finished with six strikeouts.
Words
Manager Lloyd McClendon on all-or-nothing offensive results: “We had good at-bats. I thought our guys were aggressive in the strike zone. We got some pitches to drive and we drove them. I don’t apologize for home runs. I kind of like them.
“You’re going to have a combination of (homers and strikeouts) from time to time) But all-in-all, we had pretty good at-bats.”
Noteworthy
Cruz’s homers were the 200th and 201st of his career. He homered in four consecutive games from April 1-4 in 2011, his longest such streak . . . Ackley started in center field Monday for the first time since the final game of the 2013 season. He hit leadoff for the first time since July 31 and finished 1-for-3 with a homer, walk and a run. CF Austin Jackson received the day off . . . RHP Felix Hernandez didn’t complain of more issues with his right quadriceps muscle after it became tight and forced him to leave Sunday’s win over Oakland after five innings . . . Monday marked the Mariners first regular season game at Dodger Stadium since 2009.
Next
The Mariners try to even the series Tuesday when RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (0-1, 6.00) takes on LHP David Huff, who is making a spot start for the injured Hyun-Jin Ryu. Iwakuma pitched poorly in his season debut, when he allowed five runs, four earned, over six innings of a 5-3 loss to the Angels.
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