Mariners pounce on Twins early, cruise to win

SEATTLE— J.P. Crawford homered on J.A. Happ’s first pitch and Shed Long Jr. hit a three-run triple an inning later as the Seattle Mariners thumped the Minnesota Twins 10-0 on Tuesday.

Seattle starter Chris Flexen tossed eight sharp innings in striking out a career-high eight, and was backed by an early offensive outburst that scored five runs in the first two innings.

“It was pretty awesome. I don’t think anything really felt different. It was just definitely locked in and had all four pitches going,” Flexen said.

Crawford became the first Mariners player to homer on the opening pitch since Dustin Ackley in 2012 when he drove Happ’s fastball out to right field for his fourth of the season.

Long, recently recalled from the minors after a lengthy recovery from a stress fracture in his shin sustained last season, provided the big blow in the second inning with a bases-loaded liner into the right-center gap and capped the triple with a belly-flop slide into third base.

Long said he continues to try and rediscover his form from 2019 when he hit .263 in 42 games.

“I always think about it, just trying to get back to that guy,” he said. “I definitely think that I’m getting close to that and, I’m just working on a daily basis to continue to get there and honestly just be better than that guy in 2019.”

Jake Fraley and Ty France added RBI singles, and Luis Torrens and France hit solo homers late in the game. France had not gone deep since April 18. Seattle set a season high for runs and matched its season best in hits with 14.

Flexen (6-3) never had pitched beyond the seventh, but scattered four hits and twice had baserunners quickly eliminated by double plays. No runner reached second base for the Twins as Flexen walked none, and only a pitch count of 107 kept him from attempting to finish a complete game.

It was the sixth time in 12 starts this season Flexen has allowed one earned run or none.

“Absolutely the best starting pitching outing we’ve had all year,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He just dominated the strike zone. I think it was first-pitch strikes about 80 percent, had all of his pitches working. It was really fun to watch when he’s got it going on like that with command of everything.”

Happ (3-3) lasted just four innings, the third time in his past seven starts the lefty failed to pitch into the fifth.

Aside from Crawford’s homer and Long’s triple, Happ wasn’t hit especially hard, but the quantity added up to trouble. His nine hits allowed matched a season high.

“I think he was at times getting a little frustrated with what was going on and maybe some of the pitches he was making, maybe the fact that the balls are finding grass behind him,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Really every adjustment he tried to make for one reason or another just didn’t seem to work out.”

Minnesota Seattle

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Arraez 2b 4 0 1 0 Crawford ss 5 2 3 1

Donaldsn 3b 4 0 0 0 Fraley cf 4 1 1 1

Larnach lf 3 0 0 0 France 1b 4 1 3 2

Cruz dh 3 0 1 0 Seager 3b 5 0 0 0

Polanco ss 3 0 0 0 Moore 2b 4 0 0 0

Kirilloff rf 3 0 2 0 Murphy c 2 1 0 1

Sano 1b 3 0 0 0 Bauers rf 5 1 3 0

Gordon cf 3 0 0 0 Torrens dh 4 2 2 1

Rortvedt c 3 0 0 0 Long Jr. lf 4 2 2 3

Totals 29 0 4 0 Totals 37 10 14 9

Minnesota 000 000 000 — 0

Seattle 140 102 11x — 10

E—Jax (1). DP—Minnesota 0, Seattle 2. LOB—Minnesota 2, Seattle 9. 2B—France (16). 3B—Long Jr. (1). HR—Crawford (4), Torrens (3), France (4). SF—Murphy (2).

IP H R ER BB SO

Minnesota

Happ L,3-3 4 9 6 5 1 5

Jax 4 5 4 4 3 6

Seattle

Flexen W,6-3 8 4 0 0 0 8

Vest 1 0 0 0 0 0

HBP—Happ (France). WP—Jax.

Umpires—Home, Greg Gibson; First, Will Little; Second, Mark Ripperger; Third, Dan Merzel.

T—2:53. A—7,669 (47,929).