Indians defeat Mariners to extend winning streak

[June 07, 2016]  SEATTLE -- With his starting pitcher rolling and his team clinging to a 3-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning, Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona heard a crack of the bat and looked up to see a long fly ball headed toward the center-field wall with a runner on base.

"I almost swallowed my chew," Francona said not long after Indians center fielder Rajai Davis made a catch near the wall to preserve starter Trevor Bauer's memorable night and Cleveland's 3-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.

Davis hit his sixth home run of the season on a night when Bauer controlled the Seattle bats on the way to the Indians' sixth consecutive win.

With a dominating curveball and a fastball that touched 97 miles per hour, Bauer (4-2) allowed just one run off five hits over 7 2/3 innings to lead the Indians to their longest streak of the season.

"I thought he really pitched," Francona said. "He drove his fastball to both sides of the plate, his breaking ball was really good.

"Anytime you leave a guy out there in the eighth, especially to get to the middle of their order, that's telling you something."

The Mariners (31-26) almost made Francona pay for his decision to stick with Bauer in the eighth. With Seattle's Norichika Aoki standing on first base and the Indians clinging to a 3-1 lead, Seth Smith drove a high-rising ball to the deepest part of the field in center field.

"I was like: 'He didn't get that, did he?' " Bauer said. "I saw Rajai chop his steps like he was going to go up the wall, and then I was like, 'Oh, no, it's going to go out.'

"Thank you, Seattle air. In a lot of ballparks, that goes out. It was very fortunate it went to that part of the park."

Davis initially thought he might have to make a game-saving catch over the fence.

"I was trying to count my steps in case I needed to find that ball like Spiderman," Davis said. "We didn't need Spiderman tonight."

Davis went 2-for-4 with a fifth-inning solo homer that gave the Indians (32-24) a 3-1 lead.

Veteran Bryan Shaw and closer Cody Allen finished off the win after Bauer got the first two outs of the eighth inning. Shaw came on in the ninth and got all three batters to earn his 12th save of the season.

Seattle suffered its fourth loss in a row to fall four games behind Texas in the American League West.

Seattle starter James Paxton (0-2) took the loss despite a solid start that saw him give up just five hits, three runs and one earned run over six innings. He struck out 10 and walked just one in his second start since being promoted from Triple-A Tacoma last week.

"I was really excited to see the steps Paxton made tonight," manager Scott Servais said afterward. "That's the real James Paxton. He needs to step up, and he certainly answered the bell tonight."

The only earned run came on Davis' solo homer in the fifth. Davis hit a 3-2 pitch over the left-field fence for his sixth home run of the season.

Indians relief pitcher Trevor Bauer (47) throws against the Seattle Mariners during the fourth inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Cleveland took advantage of a Seattle error to take a 2-1 lead in the fourth.

After the Mariners took a 1-0 lead on a Norichika Aoki RBI single in the third, the Indians responded with a two-run fourth that was made possible when Seattle catcher Chris Iannetta missed a throw to the plate.

With one out and Carlos Santana on first base, Cleveland's Jose Ramirez doubled into the left-field corner. As Santana rounded third and tried to score, Seattle shortstop Ketel Marte took a relay throw from left and threw to home, a couple of steps in front of Santana, but Iannetta missed the ball to allow the tying run to score and Ramirez to reach third base. Ramirez then scored on a Juan Uribe sacrifice fly for a 2-1 Indians lead.

"I just missed it," Iannetta said. "You're going to make errors. I don't want to do it; I pride myself on defense. I'm really good on plays like that back there. ... I'll be out there early working on it (Tuesday). It's been a strength of mine in my career and it will be moving forward."

Mariners shortstop Ketel Marte returned from a 15-day stint on the disabled list to go 1-for-3. He singled in his first at-bat, stole second base and came around to score Seattle's lone run on a Aoki RBI single.

NOTES: Seattle activated SS Ketel Marte (sprained left thumb) from the disabled list before Monday's game. He missed the minimum 15 days. To make room for Marte, the Mariners optioned OF Stefen Romero to Triple-A Tacoma. Romero hit .200 (3-for-15) with two RBIs in eight games for Seattle this year. ... The Indians announced before Monday's game that RHP Danny Salazar would not make his Wednesday start due to shoulder tightness. RHP Carlos Carrasco will move back a day to start Wednesday's game, and the team announced that RHP Cody Anderson will be recalled from Triple-A to start Tuesday. ... RF Tyler Naquin homered in three consecutive games heading into Monday night, the longest streak by a Cleveland player since 2B Jason Kipnis homered in four straight in 2011. Naquin, a rookie, hit his first major league home run on Friday, then added homers Saturday and Sunday. He failed to homer on Monday, however.

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