Mariners hit 4 homers, roll to 7-2 victory over Rockies

Four homers. That usually works, right?

The Mariners hit four homers Saturday night and continued their (too late?) late-season surge with a 7-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Safeco Field.

Robinson Cano started the muscle flex with a no-doubt drive that enabled him to join a select club in major league history. Nelson Cruz capped the show with a two-run drive that gave him the major league lead.

In-between, there were contributions from Jesus Montero and Franklin Gutierrez, who returned to the starting lineup after a weeklong absence.

The Mariners also got a dominant five innings from lefty starter Roenis Elias before he threatened to unravel in the sixth inning. The bullpen stepped in, though, and kept the game under control.

So all in all, there wasn’t much not to like.

The Mariners won for the eighth time in 11 games and closed to within six games of Texas for the American League’s final wild-card spot with 19 games remaining.

Yes, the math is grim, but the line isn’t flat. Not yet.

Cano opened the scoring against Colorado lefty Yohan Flande (3-3) by leading off the second inning with a booming homer to right that struck the facing of the second deck.

It also put Cano in an exclusive club. The homer was his 50th extra-base hit of the season — a milestone that he’s reached in each of his 11 seasons. Only four other players in history had at least 50 extra-base hits in each of their first 11 seasons: Carlos Lee did it in his first 13 years from 1999-2011; Albert Pujols (2001-12) and Eddie Mathews (1952-63) did it in their first 12 years; and Paul Waner (1926-36) did it in his first 11 years.

The Mariners extended their lead to 2-0 with two outs in the third inning. Kyle Seager doubled into the right-center gap and scored on Cruz’s single to left.

Elias (5-8) rolled through the first nine Rockies with seven strikeouts before Cristhian Adames broke the streak with a leadoff single in the fourth inning. But DJ LeMahieu then grounded into a double play.

The Mariners doubled their lead to 4-0 in the fourth. Montero drove a one-out homer over the center-field wall before Shawn O’Malley reached third on an infield single and a two-base throwing error by Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado.

O’Malley scored when John Hicks put down a perfect bunt on a suicide squeeze. Hicks was safe at first when Flande chose, for some reason, to make a belated flip to the plate.

The chance for a bigger inning slipped away when, after David Hale replaced Flande, right fielder Carlos Gonzalez made a diving catch on Cruz’s slicing two-out drive to right with two runners aboard.

The Mariners kept coming.

Gutierrez’s one-out homer in the fifth, against Hale, boosted the lead to 5-0. It was Gutierrez’s 12th of the season and came in his first start since leaving the Sept. 4 game in Oakland because of chronic joint issues.

So Elias had a five-run lead, and was pitching a one-hitter, when he worked himself into a jam in the sixth inning.

First, he fumbled a squibber by Tom Murphy for an error. Then, he walked Brandon Barnes on four pitches.

That turned over the Colorado lineup.

Another four-pitch walk, to Adames, loaded the bases with no outs. LeMahieu’s soft grounder to short produced a force at second but scored a run.

LeMahieu stole second without a throw on Elias’ first pitch to Arenado, which removed the force and prompted a pitching chance to Logan Kensing.

After Arenado sent a sacrifice fly to deep right, the Mariners opted for another matchup by calling on David Rollins to face Carlos Gonzalez. That worked; Gonzalez grounded out to second.

Elias’ final line for 5 1/3 innings showed one hit and two unearned (but deserved) runs. He finished with eight strikeouts and three walks.

Danny Farquhar replaced Rollins to start the seventh and pitched around Corey Dickerson’s one-out double. Carson Smith and Joe Beimel worked the final two innings.

The Mariners rebuilt their five-run lead on Cruz’s two-run homer in the seventh. It was his 41st of the season, which pulled him into tie with former Baltimore teammate Chris Davis for the major league lead.

This story was originally published September 12, 2015 at 9:02 PM with the headline "Mariners hit 4 homers, roll to 7-2 victory over Rockies."