SEATTLE (AP) — Cal Raleigh tied a team record with homers in four straight at-bats, George Kirby pitched one-run ball into the eighth inning and Seattle Mariners beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Raleigh led off the second inning against Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola with a 362-foot shot to right field for his 18th homer of the season. It was his first time up after also homering in all three of his at-bats in a 9-2 win against the Phillies
on Monday, matching the Seattle record of homers in four consecutive at-bats set by Mike Cameron on May 2, 2002.
Kirby (9-10) gave up one run on four hits and struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings. Jose Ferrer got the last out in the eighth and Andrés Muñoz pitched the ninth for his 24 save in 32 chances.
Nola (5-10) got the loss, allowing two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts over six innings.
Kirby was coming off a couple of tough outings, including giving up six first-inning runs in his last start against the Brewers. It looked as if he might be in trouble again when he allowed three straight singles in the second inning, including an RBI hit by Justin Crawford. Instead, Kirby got out of the jam and cruised the rest of the way.
The Mariners took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning on Josh Naylor’s run-scoring single. Dominic Canzone added two more runs with a two-out, bases-loaded single to left-center off reliever Brooks Raley.
Raleigh became the first Seattle player to hit four home runs over two consecutive games since Kenji Johjima on June 24-27, 2006. Raleigh did walk in a plate appearance between homers on Monday, and walked his second time up on Tuesday before ending the streak with a sixth-inning strikeout.
Phillies LHP Jesús Luzardo (11-5, 3.35 ERA) takes on Mariners RHP Bryan Woo (9-8, 4.10) in the final of the three-game series Wednesday afternoon.
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