Zach McAllister was rocked in his second big-league appearance, and although McAllister's opponent was not exactly lights-out, Seattle’s Anthony Vasquez won in his Major League debut, as the Mariners earned a split with a 12-7 win in the nightcap of a day/night doubleheader.
McAllister gave up ten runs, eight of which were earned, on nine hits in just 3.1 innings, as Seattle used consecutive five-run frames in the third and the fourth to take a 10-2 lead, and the visitors held on from there to make it two-of-three in this series, with one more game slated for 12:05 on Wednesday afternoon.
Seattle was helped in the fourth by an error on center-fielder Kosuke Fukudome with two outs which allowed two runs to score and put the Mariners up by eight.
Fukudome and Shin-Soo Choo went deep for the Tribe, but both were solo shots, and though the Indians did manage to match their run production from the first game, they went only 3-for-15 with men in scoring position.
The Indians never gave up in Game Two, but eventually ran out of time and clutch hits, and will be kicking themselves for the chances they missed. For example, in the sixth inning, with two runs already in and the bases loaded with one out, Asdrubal Cabrera struck out and Choo grounded out, leaving the Tribe’s deficit at 11-6. Then, in the seventh, they got a runner to third with only one out, and once again failed to score.
Even in the eighth, after Cleveland cut the deficit to 12-7, they again had the bases jammed with one out only to have Carlos Santana pop out and Shelley Duncan line out to end the last real chance for a sweep of today’s twin-bill.
The Tribe did amass 13 hits in the nightcap, with Jack Hannahan accounting for four by himself, but The Good Guys stranded 11 to go with their .200 average with RISP.
Detroit holds a lead over Tampa Bay late in their contest in Florida. If the Tigers hang on, they will increase their lead over the Indians to six games.
The White Sox, who entered the day tied for second with the Tribe, are playing on the West Coast against the Angels, and should Chicago win tonight, they will move into second place and drop the Indians to third for the first time since the first week of the season.