Mariners sweep Rays, move to within two games of .500
Miranda tosses four-hitter to pick up first complete-game win of career
SEATTLE — Ariel Miranda pitched a four-hitter for his first career complete game, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays 7-1 on Sunday to sweep their weekend series.
Miranda (6-2) struck out a careerhigh nine and walked one. He has allowed only seven earned runs in 30 innings over his last five starts.
Nelson Cruz hit a two-run homer and Mike Zunino picked up two more RBIs in Seattle’s seventh win in eight games. Jarrod Dyson also drove in two runs.
Tampa Bay right-hander Erasmo Ramirez (3-1) pitched 4.2 innings against his first major league team, allowing four runs and seven hits.
Kevin Kiermaier had an infield single in the fifth for the Rays’ first hit. Tampa Bay got its only run when Daniel Robertson reached on a triple in the eighth — centre-fielder Dyson lost the ball in the sun — and scored on Jesus Sucre’s groundout.
Miranda’s third straight win also was Seattle’s first complete game of the season.
Zunino, a .196 career hitter who had a career-high seven RBIs on Saturday, is hitting .308 since being recalled from the minors on May 22 and leads the team with 13 RBIs during that span.
He hit a two-run single in the fourth, giving Seattle a 4-0 lead.
Cruz began the scoring with his 14th homer in the first. Dyson added a two-run double in the sixth.
Danny Valencia singled in his first two at-bats to give him nine consecutive hits over three games. That tied the Mariners record set by Raul Ibanez from Sept. 22-24, 2004. His hitting surge raised his batting average from .247 to .284.
In other Mariners news, RHP Felix Hernandez (shoulder) is tentatively expected to have a rehab start Tuesday for Triple-A Tacoma. He has been on the disabled list since April 26.
Next up for the Mariners, now 28-30 for the season and 7-3 in their past 10 games, are the Twins on Tuesday. Left-hander James Paxton (4-0, 1.26 ERA) is expected to get the start for Seattle. He is 1-1 with a 1.54 ERA in two career starts against Minnesota. The Twins have not announced their starter.