Color Scheme

Subscribe now
Seattle Mariners

Adam Lind homers twice as Mariners set season high for runs

The Mariners greet Adam Lind after his three-run homer in the second inning. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)
By Tim Booth Associated Press

SEATTLE – Adam Lind hit home runs in his first two at-bats and had a season-best six RBIs while the Seattle Mariners scored a season high in runs in a 13-3 rout of the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night.

The A..L West-leading Mariners won their 11th series of the season, this time behind Lind’s hitting.

After struggling to start the season, Lind flashed the power that made him an offseason target for Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto. Lind hit a solo homer with two outs in the second inning to get Seattle on the board, then capped the Mariners’ six-run third inning with a three-run shot off Oakland starter Zach Neal, making the first start of his career.

Lind added a two-out RBI single in the fifth inning and an RBI double off the wall in the seventh that barely missed being his third home run of the game.

Nelson Cruz hit his 10th home run of the season in the seventh inning, a two-run shot that nearly reached the second deck in left field, and Robinson Cano followed with his 14th of the year an inning later. Leonys Martin, Seth Smith, Kyle Seager and Luis Sardinas all added RBI singles for Seattle, which inched to 10-11 at home after taking the final two games of the series. Seattle rallied from a 5-2 deficit to win on Tuesday night, capped by Martin’s game-ending two-run homer in the ninth inning.

But Martin was the focus of the only potential downside from Seattle’s victory Wednesday. Martin grabbed at his left hamstring after stealing second base in the third inning and was replaced before the start of the fourth inning by Shawn O’Malley. The team said Martin suffered a “tweak” and was day-to-day.

Hisashi Iwakuma (3-4) threw seven strong innings and won his second straight decision. Khris Davis hit his 13th home run of the season in the second for Oakland and Coco Crisp and Billy Burns both had RBI singles in the third inning, but the A’s were unable to shake Iwakuma. The right-hander threw seven innings for the second time this month against Oakland and struck out four.

Neal (0-1) appeared in relief on May 11, but his first start in the majors fell apart in the third inning when Seattle had seven hits and sent nine batters to the plate. Neal finished four innings in his first start.