Jay Bruce hit a grand slam in the first inning and Erik Swanson pitched six scoreless innings of one-hit ball for his first major league victory as the Seattle Mariners defeated the host Cleveland Indians 10-0 Sunday afternoon.
Mitch Haniger and Edwin Encarnacion also homered for the Mariners, who snapped a six-game losing streak during which they had been outscored 53-12.
Swanson (1-3), a right-hander acquired in the offseason from the New York Yankees as part of the trade for left-hander James Paxton, allowed only three baserunners through the first five innings, all via walks. The only hit Swanson allowed was a two-out double in the sixth by Jose Ramirez. Swanson struck out three.
Indians right-hander Cody Anderson (0-1), inserted into the starting rotation when ace Corey Kluber suffered a broken bone in his right arm when hit by a line drive last week, didn’t make it through the first inning.
With one out in the first, Anderson walked Haniger and Daniel Vogelbach. Encarnacion then lined a single to left to load the bases. Bruce hit a 2-2 pitch over the wall in right-center field for his team-leading 11th home run of the season.
Anderson allowed four runs on two hits in two-thirds of an inning, with three walks and one strikeout.
Haniger hit a solo homer to left-center field off reliever Jon Edwards in the second inning to make it 5-0.
The Mariners scored three more times in the fourth. Braden Bishop led off with a single off Tyler Olson and moved to second on a groundout. The Indians then intentionally walked Haniger to put runners at first and second. Vogelbach lined a single to right to score Bishop, but Haniger was thrown out at third on the play. Encarnacion, who spent the previous two seasons with the Indians, greeted right-hander Dan Otero with a two-run homer to left field.
The Mariners capped the scoring in the fifth as Omar Narvaez and Dylan Moore hit back-to-back doubles with one out, with Narvaez being held at third on the latter. Bishop then lined a two-run single to right.
Mariners right-handers Brandon Brennan and Mike Wright and left-hander Zac Rosscup each pitched a scoreless inning of relief to complete the two-hit shutout.