SEATTLE_As the Seattle Mariners wait for their offense to resurface from it hitting hiatus, it helps to be able to roll out one of the best starting pitchers to help ease the return.
Starting pitcher James Paxton delivered yet another brilliant performance in a month filled with them to lead the Mariners to a solid 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
Nick Vincent worked a drama-free eighth inning and Edwin Diaz had a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his 18th save of the season as Seattle improved its record to 30-20.
Paxton pitched seven strong innings, allowing just one run on three hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts to improve to 4-1. It was the fourth time this season he has tallied double-digit strikeouts. It's the most in a single season by a Mariners pitcher since Felix Hernandez had six games of 10-plus strikeouts in 2014.
Over his last six starts, he's 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA with 56 strikeouts and eight walks in 44 innings.
His lone mistake came in the fifth inning with a 1-0 lead. Facing the lefty-swinging Max Kepler, Paxton let a cutter leak over the middle. The mistake was redirected with great force and impressive distance, carrying over the wall in right field.
Mitch Haniger broke the 1-1 tie the sixth inning. Guillermo Heredia drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With the infield shifted for him to pull the ball, Haniger pushed a ground ball through the right to side to score Heredia and make it 2-1. It was his team-leading 37th RBI on the season.
The Mariners grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Twins starter Fernando Romero. Jean Segura led off the game with an infield single, stole second and then later scored on Nelson Cruz's ground ball through the left side.
