ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Junior Caminero hit his 28th homer, one of four longballs for Tampa Bay, and All-Star Nick Martinez pitched effectively into the sixth inning as the Rays beat the Seattle Mariners 7-2 on Friday night.
Richie Palacios, Cedric Mullins and Victor Mesa Jr. hit solo shots.
Martinez (8-2) allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. The 35-year-old right-hander got his first All-Star nod earlier Friday, replacing injured Boston
left-hander Ranger Suárez.
The Mariners, who were just swept by the Marlins in Miami, have lost four straight to fall behind Texas into second in the AL West.
Caminero doubled and scored on a two-out single by Chandler Simpson to make it 1-0 in the third. In the seventh, he hit an opposite-field, two-run shot to right against Jose Ferrer that put Tampa Bay ahead 6-2.
Palacios led off the fourth with a 396-foot shot off Mariners starter Luis Castillo (3-8).
Mullins fouled off consecutive two-strike pitches before he hit a slider over the wall in right field and Mesa added a 398-foot shot — also off a two-strike slider — that made it 4-1 in the fifth.
Seattle's Cole Young hit his 11th home run of the season in the fifth, and Dominic Canzone had an RBI grounder in the sixth.
Castillo gave up four runs and nine hits in five innings.
Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert (7-5, 3.19 ERA) starts Saturday opposite Rays RHP Griffin Jax (4-6, 3.60).
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
