MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kyle Seager wasn’t sure he got all of the ball in his final at-bat.
He did.
Seager hit his second homer of the game, a three-run drive in the ninth inning to complete the Seattle Mariners’ comeback from a six-run deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins 8-6 Sunday.
Seager had four hits and Taylor Trammell also homered for Seattle, which trailed 6-0 going into the sixth. The Mariners won a road series for the first time since Sept. 11-13, 2019, at Arizona.
“We don’t get back in that game unless we hit the ball over the fence,” manager Scott Servais said.
Byron Buxton continued his early season success with a homer, double and single and Luis Arraez had a pair of hits for the Twins.
The Mariners trailed 6-5 going into the ninth. Mitch Haniger and Ty France opened the inning with singles against Alex Colomé and Seager followed with his homer.
“It felt good off the bat, was kind of clipped a little bit, so I knew it went really high. I was certainly hoping. But I figured I had enough to get it off the wall. When I saw (right fielder Max) Kepler working toward the wall it felt pretty good at that point,” Seager said.
Colomé (0-1) blew a save for the second time in four chances.
“Alex has tremendous late-inning experience and success at this level. He’s our guy and we trust him implicitly late in ballgames,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.
Drew Steckenrider (1-1) pitched a scoreless eighth before Rafael Montero earned his second save in four chances with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Buxton has eight hits in three games to increase his batting average to .500. His 1.231 slugging percentage is tops in the majors.
“Seeing the ball good. Just going up there and having a little bit more fun,” he said.
Up 1-0, Minnesota scored three runs in the third inning, two on a bases-loaded double the opposite way by Buxton, who has a hit in all eight games he’s played. He has at least one extra-base hit in seven of them.
Buxton added a towering 428-foot two-run home run to the bullpen in the fifth for a 6-0 lead and led to some in the crowd to chant “MVP!”
Minnesota starter Matt Shoemaker scattered three hits in five innings before falling apart in the sixth.
Seager hit a leadoff homer and Trammell launched a three-run shot for his second in as many days. As the ball was on its way beyond the right-field seats, Shoemaker had words for home plate umpire Manny Gonzalez and was ejected.
Seattle added one run in the seventh.
Against a Twins team averaging 6.1 runs per game, Seattle starter Chris Flexen allowed six runs — five earned— in five innings. He struck out seven.
GETTING HEATED
Buxton was hit in the shoulder by a pitch from Will Vest in the seventh and both benches were warned. Servais argued and was ejected.
France was hit on an up-and-in fastball from Cody Stashak in the top of the frame. France was also hit in the first.
“I thought it was ridiculous they gave us warnings,” Servais said. “He hit Buxton with a changeup … If you’re going to throw at somebody you don’t throw at somebody with a changeup, you hit somebody with a 95 mph fastball.”
TRAINERS ROOM
Mariners: 1B Evan White entered as a defensive replacement in the ninth. He missed the past two games with left quad tightness.
Twins: 3B Josh Donaldson (mild right hamstring strain), who is eligible to come off the injured list Monday, went through a Sunday workout at the team’s alternate training site. … On the DL since April 7, OF Brent Rooker (cervical strain) is ready to start doing some work at the team’s alternate site.
UP NEXT
Mariners: LHP Justin Sheffield (0-1, 7.20) is to open a four-game series Monday in Baltimore against Orioles RHP Dean Kremer (0-1, 9.00).
Twins: Open a four-game series Monday at Target Field against Boston with LHP J.A. Happ (0-0, 2.25) facing LHP Martín Pérez (0-0, 5.40) of the Red Sox.
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