Mariners inch closer in wild-card chase, top D'backs 5-4

SEATTLE (AP) — Tom Murphy hit a two-run home run in the second inning and added a solo shot in the sixth, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Friday night for their eighth win in 11 games.

Seattle continued to inch closer in the AL wild-card race, pulling within one game of New York for the second spot in the logjammed standings.

“I think the biggest thing we’ve done is mitigate those down stretches really to find a way to win somehow to break up the monotony of losing two, three, four games in a row,” Murphy said. “This is the best team I’ve ever been on when it comes to that. It’s incredible how much morale we have and how much we don’t allow what happened yesterday to affect us today.”

Murphy’s fifth career multihomer game was the catalyst on a night a couple of defensive mistakes handed Arizona three runs. Murphy’s two-run shot in the second gave Seattle a 3-2 lead, and his solo blast in the sixth just cleared the fence in deep left-center field. Both homers came off Arizona starter Madison Bumgarner.

“He’s been probably one of our most consistent at-bats here over the last week or so, just grinding through it,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “Obviously, his niche is killing the lefties. He usually stays right on left-handed pitching, and he was right there again tonight.”

J.P. Crawford led off the game with a solo homer for Seattle, and Ty France had a key two-out, two-strike single in the fifth inning that scored Dylan Moore and snapped a 3-3 tie.

Bumgarner (7-10) pitched six innings, but the three home runs allowed were a season-high.

“It was a lot better than the previous three (starts), but result wise was pretty much the same,” Bumgarner said. “That can be frustrating.”

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source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Mariners-inch-closer-in-wild-card-chase-top-16450816.php