Shaun Marcum pitched 5 1/3 innings and the bullpen finished the job as the Indians beat Seattle on Saturday night at Safeco Field.
SEATTLE -- The fifth spot in the Indians rotation has been a popped blister for the Indians this season. Maybe Shaun Marcum can serve as a Band-Aid.
Marcum pitched 5 1/3 innings Saturday night as the Indians beat the Mariners, 4-3, at Safeco Field. It was just the second victory turned in by an Indians fifth starter this season and they both belong to Marcum.
After Marcum departed with a 4-2 lead, Seattle pressured the Tribe bullpen, but each time it responded.
Marc Rzepczynski and Zach McAllister stranded Kyle Seager at third in the sixth to maintain the 4-2 lead. The Mariners, however, made it 4-3 in the seventh when Brad Miller doubled and Dustin Ackley singled off McAllister.
McAllister induced Austin Jackson to hit into a force play and struck out Seth Smith before finding trouble again. Robinson Cano singled to put runners on the corners and McAllister pitched around AL home run leader Nelson Cruz to load the bases.
Nick Hagadone relieved to face Seager, who came into the game hitting .377 (40-for-106) lifetime against the Tribe. The hard-throwing Hagadone struck Seager out on three pitches, including a cutter and a curveball.
Cody Allen nailed it down by earning a four-out save. He has converted 11-of-12 save opportunities this season. The game ended when Robinson Cano grounded into a double play at shortstop.
Jerry Sands, expected to be designated for assignment Sunday when the Indians activate Carlos Santana, gave the Indians a 3-0 lead off left-hander Roenis Elias with a two-run homer in the second.
After Brandon Moss walked to start the inning, Sands hit a 1-2 pitch low in the strike zone and drove it over the fence in left center field. It was Sands' first homer this year and his first in the big leagues since June 16 when he homered off Baltimore's Brian Matusz while playing for Tampa Bay.
The Indians took a 1-0 lead in the first on Nick Swisher's sacrifice fly. The Tribe loaded the bases with one-out singles by Mike Aviles and Michael Brantley and Ryan Raburn's walk.
Seattle made it a 3-2 game on Cano's two-run homer off Marcum in the third. Marcum had two outs when Smith blooped a single into left field. Cano lined a 2-2 pitch into the right field seats.
Marcum was facing Seattle for the first time since 2008, but Cano still had good numbers against him. He came into the game hitting .353 (6-for-17) against Marcum.
Cano missed the first two games of this series because of illness. His swing seemed to be fully recovered on his second homer of the season.
Pinch-hitter David Murphy pushed the Tribe's lead to 4-2 with a broken-bat single into right field in the sixth off reliever Tom Wilhelmsen. Swisher scored after drawing a leadoff walk and going to third on Moss' double into the right field corner.
Marcum (2-0, 5.49) allowed two runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked three.
Elias (2-2, 3.07) allowed four runs on five hit in 5 1/3 innings.
What it means
The Indians have won eight of their last 11 games. They are now 9-11 against left-handed starters.
The Indians are 7-3 against the AL West.
Seattle lost for just the fourth time in its last 12 games.
No. 5, No. 5, No. 5
The Indians fifth starters are 2-6 with a 10.42 ERA. Besides Marcum, TJ House, McAllister an Bruce Chen have tried to fill that roll.
In a pinch
Murphy is 5-for-12 with seven RBI as pinch hitter. He was pinch-hitting for Sands.
Thanks for coming
The Indians and Mariners drew 32,287 to Safeco Field on Saturday night.
What's next?
The Indians and Mariners end this four-game series Sunday with RHP Danny Salazar (5-1, 3.65) facing Mariner lefty J.A. Happ (3-1, 3.71) at 4:10 p.m. ET. SportsTime Ohio, WTAM AM/1100 and WMMS FM/100.7 will carry the game.
Salazar will be making his first career start against the Mariners. This will be his ninth start of the season.
Happ will be making his 10th start for the Mariners. He came away with a six-inning no decision in his last outing against Tampa Bay.