PHOENIX _ There was no celebration or even a fist pump. The lack of drama and the inevitability of it made it basically a foregone conclusion.
Edwin Diaz was going to set the Mariners' season record for saves. It was just a matter of when.
It came Friday night at Chase Field. Diaz worked an easy 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the Mariners' 6-3 win over the Diamondbacks.
Diaz moved past Fernando Rodney, who held the previous record of 48 set in 2014.
Seattle got a solid start from right-hander Erasmo Ramirez, who pitched six innings, giving up three runs _ only one earned _ on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts to get his first win of the season.
Dee Gordon manufactured the Mariners' first run. After hitting a leadoff double to start the second inning off Arizona starter Zack Godley, Gordon noticed that catcher Alex Avila was making looping tosses back to the mound after each pitch. So Gordon timed out his lead and took off for third base on a throw back to the mound. The play stunned Godley, who caught the ball and fired awkwardly to third base but nowhere near third baseman Eduardo Escobar. The error allowed Gordon to race home for a 1-0 lead.
It was the start of a four-run inning for Seattle. Mitch Haniger singled to center _ his second of three hits on the night while Robinson Cano, Jean Segura and Denard Span all followed with singles to lead to two more runs. Kyle Seager added a sacrifice fly to right to score Segura that made it 4-0.
The Mariners pushed the lead 5-0 in the fifth inning when Haniger smashed his 21st homer of the season, sending a solo shot into deep left field.
Arizona picked up its first run off Ramirez in the bottom of the fifth. Nick Ahmed led off with a single and later scored on A.J. Pollock's sac fly to center.
Seattle got that run back immediately and in impressive fashion. Mike Zunino's opposite-field solo homer to deep right-center with two outs in the sixth _ an example of his freakish strength _ pushed the lead to 6-1.
The experiment of Cano as a utility player produced some suboptimal results in the sixth inning, leading to a pair of runs. Cano was unable to pick a pair of throws in the dirt at first base _ one from Segura and one from Gordon _ that most first basemen make with regularity. The second throw came with two outs and bounced into the Mariners dugout, allowing two runners to score on the play.
