KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Mariners? Do you want to build a snowman?
It doesn't have to be a snowman.
But "hanging an eight-spot" in an inning as the baseball folks say, can be pretty fun.
Scoring eight runs in a game is difficult and uncommon, but rolling up eight runs in an inning? Well, that shouldn't be expected. The last time they scored eight or more runs in an inning was Sept. 6, 2016 against the Angels. And yet with what the 2019 Mariners have done to opposing pitchers in the first 11 games, an eight-run inning won't leave you frozen in disbelief.
So on a night when their starting pitcher Felix Hernandez made it just one inning, giving up two runs to the first three batters he faced before exiting the game with "virus-like symptoms," the Mariners _ the hottest team in baseball _ shrugged off the shortened start and early deficit to hit, walk and homered their way to a 13-5 rout of the Royals.
Seattle tallied 15 hits, bashed five home runs, worked four walks and scored in double-digits for the second consecutive game and fourth time this season. Seattle has scored five or more runs in all but one of its games this season while homering in all 12 games and pushing its American League-leading home run total to 32. The Mariners have scored 98 runs in 12 games for an 8.2 runs per game average.
The bulk of the offensive explosion was an eight-run top of the sixth that saw 12 batters come to the plate, six hits, including two homers, two walks and a hit batter while lasting almost 30 minutes.
Seattle entered the sixth having tied the game at 4 in the fifth on a grinding two-out, two-run single from Domingo Santana. But that was just an appetizer.
Edwin Encarnacion started off the sixth by ambushing the first pitch from right-hander Homer Bailey. It produced a scalding line drive over the wall in left-center for a solo homer to give Seattle a 5-4 lead that would only grow in the inning.
Daniel Vogelbach, who homered earlier in the game, drew his first of three walks on the night. Ryon Healy followed with a single and one out later Dylan Moore was hit with a pitch to load the bases. And that's when the Mariners cranked it up. Dee Gordon dumped a run-scoring single to left off left-hander Tim Hill, pushing the lead to two runs. Mitch Haniger sliced a run-scoring single to right off right-hander Kevin McCarthy to make it 7-4. Santana continued to produce in RBI situations, pulling a double into left field to score two more runs to make it 9-4. With the four-RBI night, Santana has 19 on the season _ the most in the American League.
The run-scoring party culminated with Encarnacion smashing his second homer of the inning _ a three-run shot deep into the left-field seats. It was the second time in his career he'd hit two home runs in an inning. He became the first Mariner to accomplish the feat since Mike Cameron and Bret Boone both did it in the first inning against the White Sox back on May 2, 2002. Cameron hit four homers in that game.
That eight-run inning allowed Seattle manager Scott Servais to piece together the rest of the game with a bullpen that hasn't gained a high level of trust yet this early in the season. Chasen Bradford allowed two runs in two innings of work. It was Roenis Elias who provided the stabilizing force. He tossed three shutout innings after Bradford, allowing the Mariners to rally. Right-hander Connor Sadzeck followed with two shutout innings, while Cory Gearrin had an uneven ninth inning that didn't matter given the run cushion.
