The Seattle Mariners’ season began to tumble in the wrong direction following their first series with the Cleveland Indians.
Seattle was swept by the visiting Indians in mid-April and bids to avert the same fate on Sunday afternoon, when the teams conclude their three-game series in Cleveland.
The Mariners were unable to take advantage of four solo homers on Saturday, as Carlos Santana’s go-ahead two-run blast with two outs in the eighth inning lifted the Indians a 5-4 victory.
“In the offseason, I worked hard on not trying to pull the ball. The last couple of years that happened to me, and I didn’t feel good,” Santana said. “This year, especially with men on base, I try to get my pitch and think (about hitting it) to the middle of the field.”
Santana is batting a robust .407 (11-for-27) with 14 RBIs with runners in scoring position this season.
The 33-year-old Santana is 8-for-20 with four homers, six RBIs and five runs scored in his last five games overall and 5-for-14 with one homer, four runs scored and three RBIs against the Mariners this season.
Santana was acquired by Cleveland on Dec. 13 for Edwin Encarnacion, who also went deep on Saturday.
“I love Edwin. We all love Edwin here,” Indians star Francisco Lindor said of his former teammate. “He’s a great person. He’s trying to take hits from us. He’s diving every time. It’s our turn.”
Tim Beckham joined Encarnacion by launching a solo homer on Saturday, with the former’s blast coming in the eighth inning to give Seattle a 4-3 lead.
“It’s good to see guys hit homers and run into homers. But we want to win,” Beckham said after the Mariners sustained their sixth straight loss and 15th in 20 outings.
Seattle rookie right-hander Erik Swanson (0-3, 6.62) will make his fourth start in place of injured Wade LeBlanc and look for a significantly better performance than his last outing.
Swanson surrendered a pair of homers for the second straight start and allowed nine runs (six earned) on 11 hits in four innings of a 14-1 shellacking by Texas last Sunday.
The 25-year-old was the victim of a hard-luck loss in his lone meeting with Cleveland, allowing only Jake Bauers’ solo homer among two hits in six innings of a 1-0 loss on April 17.
For Cleveland, right-hander Cody Anderson (0-0, 5.40 ERA) will be summoned from Triple-A Columbus to make his first start since Sept. 24, 2016.
The fractured forearm of former two-time American League Cy Young recipient Corey Kluber opened a spot in the rotation for the 28-year-old Anderson, who sat out the majority of the last two seasons following Tommy John surgery.
Anderson, who allowed two runs in 2 2/3 innings in his last outing with Cleveland, likely will be the lead pitcher in a bullpen game for the Indians on Sunday.
He hasn’t fared well in a pair of career starts against Seattle, posting an 0-1 mark with a 13.50 ERA after permitting 11 runs on 16 hits in 7 1/3 innings.