SEATTLE — It had to be a home run.
You knew it wasn’t going to be an infield single or a blooper into shallow left-center — that would come later.
No, Jarred Kelenic’s first big-league hit had to match the hype surrounding his call-up and align with his self-assured personality.
After going hitless in his MLB debut Thursday night and striking out in his first at-bat Friday, the Seattle Mariners’ precocious prospect gave the fans at T-Mobile Park what they wanted to see in his second at-bat — a glimpse of that talent and power in the form of a laser into the outfield seats.
Facing Cleveland starter Aaron Civale, who came into the game with a 5-0 record and a 2.91 earned-run average in seven starts, Kelenic jumped on a low splitfinger fastball on the outside half the plate. In a testament to his raw strength and compact swing, Kelenic dropped the barrel of the bat on the pitch, sending a line drive over the wall in deep right-center over the 380 sign and into the hands of a fan, who will likely trade the valuable memento to Kelenic for some autographed memorabilia.
But beyond the individual achievement, it provided an injection of energy into the slogfest that has been the Mariners offense for the better part of two weeks. And that homer, along with two other hits from Kelenic, including an RBI double, helped Seattle unleash an unexpected explosion of runs and snap a five-game losing streak in what would eventually be a 7-3 victory.
It was just the second time in 11 games where Seattle scored seven runs or more and the 10 hits were more than the total combined hits in the previous three games. Kelenic finished the night with three of those 10 hits — the two-run homer in the third, a two-out hustling double on a line drive to center and another hustling double on a blooper to left field that scored a run in a big four-run seventh inning.
After flirting with being no-hit the day before and several times before that, Kyle Seager ended that seemingly every-game drama in the first inning, launching a solo homer to deep right-center off Civale to make it 1-0.
When Kelenic led off the third inning, he stepped into the box having seen all four of Civale’s pitches — cutter, fastball, curveball and splitfinger — in his first at-bat, which ended in irritating fashion with an awkward check-swing on a splitfinger in the dirt that was called a strike by third-base umpire Ted Barrett.
Kelenic didn’t take a half swing at the splitter again.
Off the bat, Kelenic seemed to know it was a hit and likely a homer. But there was no bat flip or even pose. He ran hard out of the box and didn’t slow down much as he circled the bases. In the stands, his parents and girlfriend screamed, hugged and celebrated.
As he crossed home plate, he pointed directly at them before heading to the dugout. The fans in the stands gave him a standing ovation, screaming for a curtain call. Kelenic appeared from the dugout and stood on the top step next to manager Scott Servais, waving his helmet to acknowledge their request.
When he jogged out to left field after the inning was over, the fans in Edgar’s Cantina and in the left-field bleachers and near the left-field foul line gave him a standing ovation.
The 3-0 lead was useful for starter Chris Flexen, who was effective despite not being overly difficult to hit.
He pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits with a walk and no strikeouts. Of his 85 pitches, he generated just four swings and misses. Cleveland put 20 balls in play and 11 of them had exit velocities of more than 90 mph, including five over 100 mph.
With two outs in the top of the sixth and Seattle up 3-1, Servais went to his bullpen. Right-hander Kendall Graveman, who hadn’t pitched in a week, finished the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh.
