Mariners Game Recap: Robinson Cano’s Grand Slam, 6 RBI Fuel M’s 11-1 Win

The Seattle Mariners made it look easy on Tuesday night at Sefco Field.

Robinson Cano stole the show when he collected his 1000th RBI on a 2 RBI single in the 5th. He then one-uped himself with his 10th career grand slam in the 7th to cap off one of the best all-around Mariner performances of the year in the 11-1 win.

Nathan Karns pitched beautifully (7IP, 2H, 3BB, 6K), posting a stat-line more characteristic of his opponent, reigning Cy Young winner, Dallas Keuchel . Karns used the ground-ball to his advantage in the first two innings sending 5 of 6 Astros back to the dugout via that out. Keuchel was equally impressive to start the night also taking down 6 of 6 batters, 2 on strikeouts.

It was the third inning though that set the tone for how the rest of the game would go. Karns came out strong quickly dispatching the first two hitters of the inning before momentarily losing control and walking 2 consecutive batters- luckily this was his worst stretch of the game by far and managed to keep those base runners from coming home. Keuchel allowed the first hit of the game to the lead off batter Nori Aoki, before taking down the side, but that double was a precursor of what was to come for the Houston phenom.

In the fourth, Keuchel continued to struggle, conceding another lead off double before surrendering the first run of the game. A simple, but not flawless fourth for Karns, had him allowing a bunt single and walk which were meaningless. The very next innings the Mariners poured on three more runs; first by a Ketel Marte single and then Cano’s 2 RBI knock giving him his 1000th run batted in on the dot. Cano became the fastest second baseman to reach 1000 RBI. It should be mentioned that before the Mariners cracked open the game, Karns heated up and kept rolling by striking out the side.

The 6th passed by without any significant plays aside from Karns’s masterful command which dazzled the Mariner faithful. In the 7th Cano had another opportunity to make a statement, which he made the most of, blasting a low fastball over the center-field wall for his 10th career grand slam (1st as a Mariner) and raised his RBI total to 1004. The salami blew the game wide open officially making it a 9-0 game at the time.

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In the later innings, the Astros mustered their only run with an RBI single by the young right-fielder, George Springer. The Mariners- although they surly didn’t need it- put up two more runs. Seth Smith singled in the team’s 10th run in the 8th before Marte would put the final run on the scoreboard with a ground-out that would bring Smith home.

The dominating win assured the Mariners would win their 4th series in a row and their first at home. It also highlighted the ever-present bright spot, the Mariners rotation, who have had their starters go at least 7 innings each of the last 5 games.

Next: James Paxton Strikes Out 8 in 5 Nearly Shutout Innings

The Mariner’s go for their first series sweep home or away tomorrow with the final meeting (this month) with their division rival, Houston Astros. Taking the mound will be Hisashi Iwakuma (0-2, 3.81) who will face off against the slumping right-hander Collin McHugh (1-3, 7.56).