The Associated Press
Ian Quillen
WASHINGTON–Mariners’ manager Scott Servais got ejected for the second time this season.
But Nelson Cruz came through with a big hit–just like he did when Servais was tossed from a game back on April 16.
“Our guys joke about it,” Servais said yesterday after Seattle rallied to beat the Washington Nationals 4-2.
“They’d like to see it probably happen more.”
Cruz greeted reliever Jacob Turner with a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning, two batters after Servais’ departure.
The Mariners stopped a five-game losing streak.
“Everything starts with one game,” Cruz said. “A win can definitely change everything.”
Gio Gonzalez took a 2-0 lead into the sixth, when Jean Segura singled leading off and Guillermo Heredia took a called third strike.
That prompted Servais to complain from the dugout, which led to his dismissal by plate umpire Adam Hamari.
After Robinson Cano singled, Nationals’ manager Dusty Baker brought in Turner (2-3)–despite Cruz having just one hit in 15 at-bats against Gonzalez.
Gonzalez had thrown just 50-of-96 pitches for strikes.
“I saw a couple balls hit hard right after we scored, and he was struggling all day,” Baker explained.
“It was kind of like a Houdini up there, got out of trouble a bunch,” he added.
“He was 2-0 on everybody.”
Cruz drove Turner’s belt-high slider over the fence in left-centre for his 12th homer this season and a 3-2 lead.
Cruz, who leads the AL with 40 RBIs, had a run-scoring single that capped a ninth-inning rally in the April 16 win over the Texas Rangers.
The home run made him 2-for-2 against Turner.
Cano added an RBI single off Turner in the seventh.
Seattle scored multiple runs for the first time since May 18.
Ariel Miranda (4-2) allowed two runs, three hits, and three walks in five innings.
Edwin Diaz, Seattle’s sixth pitcher, threw a one-hit ninth that completed a six-hitter.
Diaz got his first save since May 9 and has eight in 10 chances overall.
Gonzalez gave up two runs, three hits, and four walks in 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight.
“It wasn’t an easy task on Dusty’s part,” Gonzalez conceded. “I put him in a situation where it was tough.”
Washington’s Anthony Rendon homered in the fifth, his ninth this season and fourth in the three-game series.
Jayson Werth added an RBI single later in the inning.
Baker will be leaving the Nationals for their weekend series against the San Diego Padres to attend his son Darren’s high school graduation in northern California.
He will rejoin the team Monday in San Francisco and watch the Nationals on TV in the interim.
“I’ll watch them at home, I’ll watch them during graduation,” Baker said.
“I’ll watch them probably in my sleep in bed.”
The other interleague game between Cincinnati and Cleveland was postponed.
In AL action yesterday, Tampa Bay blanked L.A. 4-0, Boston beat Texas 6-2, Houston topped Detroit 7-6, and Kansas City at New York was postponed.
Over in the NL, Pittsburgh beat Atlanta 9-4, Philadelphia edged Colorado 2-1 (11 innings), Chicago downed San Francisco 5-1, San Diego nipped New York 4-3, Arizona blanked Milwaukee 4-0, and L.A. dumped St. Louis 7-3.
