Mariners club 3 homers, 9 extra-base hits in win over Guardians

CLEVELAND – They’ve found something. Maybe, even, a repeatable formula.

The Mariners’ bats broke out with a season-high nine extra-base hits Tuesday, featuring home runs from J.P. Crawford, Luke Raley and Dylan Moore, and Seattle held on for an 8-5 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in a key series between two first-place teams at Progressive Field.

The Mariners (44-31) moved to a season-high 13 games over .500 and improved to 34-5 when they score at least four runs.

Andres Muñoz came in and got the Mariners out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning, then closed the door in the ninth to earn his third five-out save of the season, and 13th overall.

Crawford reached base four times and drove in three runs, Mitch Garver had two doubles and two RBIs and Moore scored three times as the Mariners’ offense began to heat up a humid night in Cleveland.

Crawford hit a two-run blast that just cleared the wall in right-center field to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead in the third.

The Mariners sent nine batters to the plate in that third inning, scoring four runs on four hits with two walks and chasing Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie with one out.

Cal Raleigh just missed a home run off McKenzie – a 421-foot blast off the top of the wall in center – for an RBI double.

Raley, an Ohio native, had a sensational game in his return home. He made an all-out catch coming in, diving over the foul line and onto the hard rubber surface in front of the stands to haul in a Will Brennan pop foul for the final out of the fourth inning.

Raley followed that with an opposite-field home run to left field in the top of the fifth. It was his eighth homer of the season.

Raley was then ejected in the ninth inning by plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt.

Moore belted a 402-foot homer on the first pitch of the sixth inning, extending the Mariners’ lead to 7-1.

Ty France, in his first game back from the injured list, had three of the Mariners’ seven walks.

The Guardians scored two runs in the sixth and one each in the seventh and eighth innings.

Seattle’s Ryne Stanek came on to strand two runners on base in the seventh, striking out David Fry with a nasty splitter to end the inning.

Bryce Miller posted another strong start to pick up his first road win since April 6 at Milwaukee. The 25-year-old right-hander allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits (all singles) with two walks and two strikeouts.