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Kyle Seager, Tom Murphy combine for five homers in Mariners win over Tigers

Posted at 11:14 PM, Aug 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-14 09:45:14-04

DETROIT (AP) -- Kyle Seager homered three times and Tom Murphy added two to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers 11-6 on Tuesday night.

Seager and Murphy hit back-to-back homers in the fourth and sixth innings before Seager added his third in the ninth. It was the first three-homer game of Seager's career.

Jose Cisnero walked Murphy after the Seager homer, preventing them from becoming the first teammates to hit back-to-back homers three times in one game.

The Mariners won for the second time in 10 games, improving to 5-0 against Detroit this season. Zac Grotz (1-0) picked up his first win with 1 2/3 innings of relief.

Detroit lost for the ninth time in 12 games and fell to 16-42 at home. They need to go 6-17 in their final 23 games at Comerica Park to avoid becoming the first team to lose 60 home games.

Matthew Boyd (6-9) allowed seven runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He gave up four homers, and has allowed 30 this season, the third highest total in the majors.

The Mariners took a 1-0 lead in the third on J.P. Crawford's RBI single.

Miguel Cabrera's ground-rule double tied the score in the bottom of the inning, but the Mariners regained the lead in the fourth.

Boyd retired the first two batters, but Seager and Murphy hit their first set of back-to-back homers to give Seattle a 3-1 lead.

Detroit, though, regained the lead with two homers in the bottom of the inning. John Hicks led off with his eighth, and after Travis Demeritte singled, Jake Rogers hit the fourth of his career.

The homers were the 30th and 31st allowed by Yusei Kikuchi this season, tying him with Mike Leake for the major-league lead, one ahead of Boyd.

Kikuchi only got one out in the inning before leaving with runners on second and third. The Mariners walked Cabrera to load the bases, but Grotz's wild pitch made it 5-3.

Jordy Mercer's RBI double gave the Tigers a 6-3 lead, but the Mariners answered with a six-run sixth that included Seager and Murphy's second set of back-to-back homers.

Seager's three-run homer tied the game and Murphy followed with a long homer to left to put the Mariners up 7-6. Nick Ramirez replaced Boyd, but allowed two more runs without getting an out.

In the ninth, Seager hit a drive to deep left-centerfield that would not have been a home run, but centerfielder Niko Goodrum and leftfielder Brandon Dixon collided on the warning track. The ball hit Goodrum's glove and bounced over the fence.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mariners: RHP Brandon Brennan started the sixth inning for the Mariners, but left with pain in his left great toe after throwing two pitches. Sam Tuivailala replaced him and pitched a scoreless inning.

SHORT NIGHT

Mariners hitting coach Tim Laker was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing balls and strikes.

BOYD'S HOMER ISSUES

Boyd has allowed seven homers in his past two starts, giving him 19 in 11 starts at Comerica Park. Justin Verlander has the stadium record with 20 in 2016.

UP NEXT

The teams play the second game of a three-game series on Wednesday evening, with Detroit's Edwin Jackson (2-5, 9.35) making his second start since returning to the Tigers. Marco Gonzalez (12-9, 4.25) is scheduled to pitch for Seattle.