SEATTLE — Robbie Ray tossed seven dominant innings, Dylan Moore and Ty France homered and the Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-0 on Sunday.
Seattle took three of four from Cleveland in a potential postseason preview. All four games were tight and well-pitched, and the Mariners squeezed out just enough offense to earn a series victory.
The teams will run it back with a three-game series in Cleveland next weekend and perhaps again in October.
The Guardians' lead in the AL Central was trimmed to two games over Minnesota, which completed a sweep at home against San Francisco.
Ray, last year's AL Cy Young Award winner with Toronto, continued his August surge by winning his third straight start.
Ray (11-8) scattered three hits, struck out seven and walked none. For the month, he allowed six earned runs and struck out 41 over 33 innings. He threw at least six innings in all five starts and permitted two earned runs or less in each one.
The left-hander escaped the one jam he faced. Andrés Giménez doubled and Austin Hedges followed with a bloop single to open the sixth. With runners at the corners and no outs, Ray got a fly ball from Myles Straw that wasn't deep enough for Giménez to score, an infield popup from Steven Kwan and then struck out Amed Rosario for the third time to end the threat.
Cleveland was blanked for the eighth time this season, while Seattle posted its seventh shutout.
Moore's three-run homer came with two outs in the sixth off starter Aaron Civale. France hit a solo shot on the second pitch of the seventh.
Seattle also got a break just before Moore's long ball. Moore fouled a 2-2 pitch wide of first base where Owen Miller made a leaping attempt into the protective netting to make the catch. But he bobbled the ball against the net and it was ruled out of play.
On the next pitch, Civale (2-6) left a curveball in the middle of the plate and Moore's towering drive carried into the left field stands for his first homer since July 7.
France snapped an 0-for-21 skid with a single in the fifth and followed up with his 15th homer and first since Aug. 6 an inning later.
Civale matched Ray into the sixth but has gone nine starts since his last victory back in late May. Civale allowed four hits and struck out five.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mariners: SS J.P. Crawford was out of the lineup with an injury to his left pectoral muscle. Manager Scott Servais said Crawford was getting imaging done to check the extent of the injury. Crawford had appeared in 115 of 127 games entering Sunday.
UP NEXT
Guardians: Cleveland returns home and, after a day off, will open a series against Baltimore. RHP Cal Quantrill (10-5, 3.59 ERA) starts the opener. Quantrill has won six straight decisions and threw seven shutout innings in his last start against San Diego.
Mariners: After an off day, rookie RHP George Kirby (5-3, 3.32) will make his 19th start Tuesday against Detroit. In August, Kirby is 3-0 with a 2.59 ERA and 29 strikeouts over four starts. He allowed one run over seven innings in his last outing.
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