CINCINNATI (AP) — J.P. Crawford hit a three-run home run and Cal Raleigh added a solo shot during Seattle’s five-run fourth inning as the Mariners ended a three-game losing streak with an 8-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday night.
Raleigh had three hits and Mike Ford added a two-run homer in the second inning in support of Logan Gilbert (13-5), who struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings to improve to 4-0 in his last five starts. He gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks.
“He’s learning,” catcher Raleigh said. “It takes a while. He’s learning more and more every time he goes out there.”
He had lasted at least six innings and not allowed more than two runs in the first three of those wins.
“He had all of his pitches,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He had nine strikeouts. He was getting ahead.”
Matt Brash escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth.
Cincinnati’s Will Benson had three hits including a home run in the ninth inning off Andrés Muñoz.
The Mariners (78-61) went into the game second in the AL West, one game behind Houston. Cincinnati (73-69) was third in the NL Central and a half game out of the final NL wild-card berth.
The Mariners have scored a total of 34 runs over their last five games – at least six in each – but they lost three.
“We’ve got a lot of baseball ahead of us,” Servais said. “It’s been nice to see the offense really rolling the last couple of nights. We’re doing the things we need to do offensively.”
Rookie Lyon Richardson (0-2) faced eight batters in the fourth. He finished 4 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and runs while walking four and striking out three.
“I think I just misplaced a couple fastballs,” Richardson said. “I don’t think it was anything major. I just missed a couple pitches. If I throw fastballs where they need to be thrown and minimize my misses, I think things will be better.”
Manager David Bell sees progress in the right-hander.
“Lyon had good stuff,” Bell said. “He got off to a good start. He had a good fastball and a good change up. Give them a lot of credit. The home runs came on fastballs that got a little too much of the plate, but it is still very early in his process. That is a very good team over there. It will give him something to learn from and build on.”
The Reds finished their season series against the AL West with a 13-2 record. The only other loss was at last-place Oakland.
“It’ll be nice to get out of Cincinnati,” Servais said. “I’m never comfortable here. Things happen here really fast.”
Ford gave Seattle a 2-1 the lead in the second inning with a 400-foot homer that landed halfway up the right field seats.
The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on TJ Friedl’s one-out triple and Spencer Steer’s chopper to left over the head of the leaping drawn-in Crawford at shortstop.
Christian Encarnación-Strand, who delivered the ninth-inning game-winning hit in Cincinnati’s 7-6 win on Tuesday, and Friedl each drove in a run.
ON A ROLL
Teoscar Hernández singled twice to extend his hitting streak to 15 games (24-of-62, .387), matching the career-high streak he had with Toronto in 2020.
OR NOT
Julio Rodríguez, who hit three home runs in the first two games of the series, finished 0-for-5 with a strikeout.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: RHP Hunter Greene (Covid-19) has rejoined the team and is expected to start on Sunday after dealing with Covid. … INF Jonathan India (left foot plantar fasciitis) is tentatively scheduled to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Mariners: RHP Luis Castillo (11-7, 3.19 ERA, 183 strikeouts) is Thursday’s scheduled starter at Tampa Bay.
Reds: LHP Andrew Abbott (8-4, 3.22 ERA, 104 strikeouts) is expected to start Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
