Good day for Bruce, bad day for White Sox
Mariners outfielder hits two homers in 9-2 rout
CHICAGO — Jay Bruce hit two solo home runs, Tim Beckham had a three-run shot among his four hits and the Seattle Mariners powered their way past the Chicago White Sox 9-2 Saturday.
RyonHealy doubled in two for the Mariners, who are off to the best start in club history at 8-2. Seattle has homered in each of its first 10 games, also a franchise first, and leads the majors with 24 long balls.
Tim Anderson homered and had three hits for the second straight game and Jose Abreu went deep for Chicago. Prized White Sox rookie Eloy Jimenez had his first three-hit game.
Aside from solo shots by Anderson and Abreu, Mike Leake (2-0) allowed just seven singles through 6 1/3 innings as the Mariners rebounded from a sloppy 10-8 loss Friday in Chicago's home opener. The veteran right-hander struck out six and walked none.
Three Seattle relievers locked it down from there. Connor Sadzeck pitched the ninth in his first appearance since being acquired from Texas.
Lucas Giolito (1-1) pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed five runs. He took a no-hitter into seventh inning in his first start Sunday at Kansas City.
After Mitch Haniger's RBI double in the third, Bruce homered and Healy hit his double to make it 4-0 in the fourth. Dylan Moore got his first major league hit during the inning— a single to center — but Leury Garcia threw out Healy at the plate.
Abreu went deep in the bottom of the inning to cut it to 4-1, but Beckham homered to left off Caleb Frere in the fifth.
Bruce hit his second solo shot in the ninth off Manny Banuelos for his 26th multihomer game.
RHP Ervin Santana threw a side session Saturday, but manager Rick Renteria stopped short of saying the two-time All-Star might start Tuesday when the White Sox have an open slot in their rotation.
“We'll just say he's looking good right now,” Renteria said. “Assuming everything is well, we're hoping that he'll be a part of this, obviously. But there's still some things to be determined.”
The 36- year- old Santana signed a minor league deal with the White Sox in February.