Justin Smoak sparks as Seattle Mariners defeat Kansas City Royals 4-1 - MLB Update
Seattle Mariners’ first baseman, Justin Smoak had an extraordinary day with the bat as he hit two RBIs including a solo homer and went 1-for-4 with an average of .225 in the Mariners’ 4-1 victory against the Kansas City Royals at Safeco Field, Seattle on
September 8.
Mariners started particularly well as they scored one run in the first inning to get a 1-0 lead. Ichiro Suzuki hit a one-run homer (399 feet) towards right-field to give the Mariners a solid start. The second to fifth innings remained without any run as
the batters lured against the curveballs and got out to outfield positions.
At the bottom of second inning, Adam Kennedy hit a ground rule double to deep left-centre but Smoak and Trayvon Robinson both struck-out swinging without taking runs. Kyle Seager was ground out to second base and Kennedy moved to third base to end the second
inning. Royals missed some runs at the top of fourth inning when Melky Cabrera popped out to second base, Billy Butler fouled out to first base and Eric Hosmer struck-out looking.
Smoak said, “It finally feels good to hit one solid, hit it on the barrel. Thank God it went out. It was a good time to put some runs on the board.”
Mariners’ manager, Eric Wedge praised Smoak and said, “It was good for him, big for us. It's nice to see him hit it out of the ballpark but nice to do it in a situation where it impacted the ball game. He's had a tough road the past couple months with injuries.”
During the fifth inning, Mike Moustakas walked but at right-field Jeff Francoeur lined out and Johnny Giavotella flied out without giving the Royals their initial runs. At last, Royals scored one run during sixth inning to tie the game while Mariners smashed
a couple of runs to take a 3-1 lead. Cabrera scored the first run for Royals when Hosmer singled off centre-field.
On the other hand, Smoak struck a two-run homer (387 feet) towards right-field and Dustin Ackley scored a single run for the Mariners. During the seventh inning, Mariners raised their lead 4-1 by taking a single run. Suzuki put the last run on score-board
when Brendan Ryan reached first base on the throwing error of Royals’ short-stop Alcides Escobar.
However, Mariners led off the four-game series 1-0 after having a comfortable victory.
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