SEATTLE _ With one swing, newcomer Yonder Alonso both announced his presence in the Indians lineup and reminded the Seattle Mariners that perhaps they should have held onto him this winter.
Alonso, who had a quiet debut Thursday night, came to the plate in the first inning with the bases loaded on Saturday and launched a grand slam against his former team, a four-run blast that helped propel the Indians to their first win of the season, 6-5 over the Mariners at Safeco Field.
Alonso was hitting sixth _ behind Rajai Davis _ with left-hander James Paxton on the mound, a matchup that might normally favor the Mariners. Paxton (0-1), though, left a fastball out over the middle of the plate, and Alonso belted it.
The Mariners (1-1) chipped away against Indians starter Carlos Carrasco. Mitch Haniger hit a solo home run in the second and Jean Segura and Robinson Cano each added RBI singles in the third inning to slice the lead to 4-3.
Yan Gomes answered in the fourth, hitting a towering two-run home run to center field for his first homer of the season and a 6-3 Indians lead. Nelson Cruz fired back and made it a one-run game in the sixth with a two-run home run, his second homer in as many games, off Carrasco.
Carrasco (1-0) had a rough first outing of the season, allowing five earned runs on seven hits in 52/3 innings to go with four strikeouts.
One of the major questions for the Indians (1-1) this season is how they'll split the innings _ handled last season by the now-departed Bryan Shaw _ to bridge the gap from the starters to Andrew Miller and Cody Allen. On Saturday, it was Zach McAllister, who recorded three outs without allowing a hit.
It was Miller who ran into trouble in the eighth when Cano led off the inning with a double that landed just beyond the diving reach of Bradley Zimmer in center field. From there, Miller induced a flyout and struck out Kyle Seager and Ryon Healy to end the inning.
Cody Allen entered in the ninth and recorded a 1-2-3 inning for his first save of the season.
