The Cleveland Indians got a pair of home runs against Seattle Mariners starter James Paxton and earned their first victory of the season, a 6-5 win, at Safeco Field Saturday.
The Indians got on the board in a big way during the top of the first inning, as first baseman Yonder Alonso belted a grand slam for his first hit of the year and since signing a free-agent deal with Cleveland in the offseason.
With one out, second baseman Jason Kipnis doubled to the wall in deep center field, and two batters later, designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion followed with a base on balls. Center fielder Rajai Davis loaded the bases when he drew a free pass, and that set the table for Alonso.
After taking a first-pitch ball from Paxton, Alonso sat on a four-seam fastball and smashed the offering deep over the wall and into the seats in right field.
GRAND SLAM! Welcome to the @Indians, Yonder Alonso.
After Indians starter Carlos Carrasco struck out two of the three batters in the bottom of the first inning, the Mariners got things going with a solo home run from right fielder Mitch Haniger in the bottom of the second, and they kept the good times rolling with four straight hits in the third.
Left fielder Ichiro Suzuki got the rally started when he reached on an infield single, and then, center fielder Dee Gordon followed with a single of his own to right-center field that moved the veteran runner over from first to third with only one out.
On an 0-2 pitch from Carrasco, shortstop Jean Segura smacked an RBI single to center field, and second baseman Robinson Cano followed with a run-producing hit of his own to left that brought around Gordon. Carrasco stopped the rally by getting designated hitter Nelson Cruz to line into a double play.
Although the Mariners made it a closer game with those two runs in the third inning, the Indians went back in front by three when catcher Yan Gomes crushed a 2-2 offering from Paxton over the wall in center field in the top of the fourth.
Yan Gomes? More like Gone Gomes!
The Mariners cut the deficit down to a run when Cruz followed a Cano single with a home run to center field in the bottom of the sixth inning, his second in as many games against the Indians this season, but they could not push across the tying or go-ahead runs in their final three at-bats.
Carrasco allowed seven hits and five runs, all of which were earned, in 5.2 innings of work, but had four strikeouts and did not surrender a walk, as 52 of his 77 pitches were in the strike zone.
