The Seattle Mariners (37-22) continued their recent dominance over the Rays, getting a 2-1 win over Tampa Bay (28-30) on Sunday afternoon.
Blake Snell returned to his home state for the first time as a professional baseball player, and he absolutely dominated in his start in Seattle. Snell set an American League record by striking out the first seven batters he faced - all told he pitched six shutout innings, allowing two hits while striking out 12 and allowing no walks.
However, Snell was beaten by a phenom he watched as a young baseball fan in Seattle in Felix Hernandez. Hernandez (6-4, 5.33) allowed just one earned run on five hits in eight innings of work while striking out seven and walking one. After the Rays got a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a Brad Miller RBI double, Tampa Bay was never able to add any insurance off of the Mariners ace who has not been as dominant this season as he had in years past.
Seattle eventually made the plays the Rays were unable to - in the eighth inning, Brad Miller committed a costly error that allowed Seattle to get runners at the corners. Denard Span then came through with his first RBI since being traded from Seattle to Tampa Bay to tie the game 1-1, and Dee Gordon gave the Mariners the 2-1 lead with an RBI single that would prove to be the difference. Jose Alvarado (0-2, 2.84) took the loss for Tampa Bay, while the Mariners were boosted by a 21st save from Edwin Diaz.
The Rays now head back to the east coast as they head to Washington DC - they will begin a two game series against the Nationals on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM on Tuesday night - coverage begins on 620 WDAE & 95.3 FM with Steve Carney and the Inside Pitch at 6.