SEATTLE _ Mallex Smith should've probably walked, but he'll take a walkoff single instead.
Smith punched a 3-2 fastball from Jose Cisneros up the middle to score Kyle Seager and give the Seattle Mariners a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night at T-Mobile Park.
With the win the Mariners have now won three games in a row, something they haven't done since June 19-21.
In a season that's been filled with far more inconsistency and struggles than reasonably expected, left-hander Yusei Kikuchi delivered a solid performance.
Kikuchi pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with no walks and four strikeouts but didn't figure in the outcome since his team couldn't push across a run. He didn't dominate, but he was effective, making pitches and working around seemingly constant traffic.
It's certainly been a season full of experiences for the Japanese star as he learns to adapt to a different style of baseball.
Perhaps the biggest adjustment has been the threat of power from every player in a team's lineup. Throw in this juiced up ball that reacts like a superball compared to the baseballs he used in Japan, and you get a pitcher who is reminded of the increased level of difficulty almost every start with a ball sent over the fence.
The Tigers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Kikuchi, as he's done often this season, made a mistake while up in the count. A 1-2 curveball that was supposed be buried in the dirt, spun over the middle of the plate. Brandon Dixon took full advantage of the gift, redirecting it off the electronic scoreboard behind the left-field wall for a solo homer.
Kikuchi's second run allowed came an inning later when one-time Mariners catcher prospect John Hicks stayed on a first-pitch fastball and sent it over the wall in right field for a leadoff homer. It was the second straight game in Seattle that Hicks has homered.
Kikuchi didn't allow a run for the remainder of his outing. But it wasn't without traffic on the bases. He escaped the fifth inning with some help from his defense, something that hasn't been written often this season. After allowing back-to-back singles to start the frame, Hicks hit a hard sinking liner to center that Smith gloved at his shoelaces. Jeimer Candelario broke for third on contact thinking Smith had no play. Instead, Kikuchi got a double play that helped him post a scoreless frame.
Down 2-0 and doing nothing but making outs against Tigers starter Daniel Norris, the Mariners finally broke though in the seventh inning. Daniel Vogelbach doubled into deep right-center and Tom Murphy followed with a line drive over the wall in left, just out of the reach of a leaping Niko Goodrum. In an earlier at-bat in the second inning, Murphy led off the inning with a double only to stand on second and watch Kyle Seager, Austin Nola and Kristopher Negron strike out.
He didn't do the same, taking a lunging swing at a 2-2 slider and muscling it over the wall for his 10th homer of the season. The duo of Murphy and Omar Narvaez have combined for 26 homers this season.
Seattle tried desperately to force the go-ahead run across, loading the bases against reliever Buck Farmer with two outs. But J.P. Crawford's liner off lefty specialist Nick Ramirez was run down in right-center.
Felix Hernandez (lat strain) had his rehab schedule changed after looking so rusty in a live batting practice session on Thursday. Instead of reporting to short-season Everett on Sunday, Hernandez will throw a live batting practice session at T-Mobile Park. If that goes well, he'd then start his official rehab stint.
Hunter Strickland returned from his rehab stint with Class AAA Tacoma after throwing a 1-2-3 frame Thursday night in Reno. Strickland is expected be activated from the 60-day injured list this weekend. The Mariners will need to make room on the 40-man roster and will likely transfer someone on the 10-day injured list to the 60-day to clear a spot.
