Mariners end six-game skid; Kirby solid in debut

Seattle Mariners' Abraham Toro, right, is greeted at home plate by Luis Torrens after hitting a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
Seattle Mariners' Abraham Toro, right, is greeted at home plate by Luis Torrens after hitting a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

SEATTLE -- Abraham Toro hit a tying home run in the ninth inning, Ty France singled home the winning run in the 10th and the Seattle Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 on Sunday to snap a six-game losing streak.

"We can definitely catch our breath now," France said. "It's been a rough week."

Manuel Margot hit his third home run of the series for the Rays, who had won six straight overall and eight in a row on the road.

Tampa Bay appeared headed to a four-game sweep before Toro connected off Andrew Kittredge with one out in the bottom of the ninth for his fourth home run. Kittredge was trying for a two-inning save.

In the 10th, Rays Manager Kevin Cash chose to intentionally walk Adam Frazier with one out. France singled to left field off Matt Wisler (1-1), scoring automatic runner Jarred Kelenic with the winning run.

Prized prospect George Kirby pitched six shutout innings in his major league debut for the Mariners, who had lost 10 of 11.

The 24-year-old Kirby, a first-round draft pick out of Elon, struck out three of his first four batters after being called up from Class AA Arkansas. He allowed four hits and fanned seven with no walks on 81 pitches.

"It's exactly what we needed," Mariners Manager Scott Servais said. "I really wasn't expecting it. I didn't know what we were going to get from a rookie in his first time out there, but I could not have asked for more."

ASTROS 5, TIGERS 0 Aledmys Diaz hit a grand slam and Jake Odorizzi (3-2) combined with two relievers on a one-hitter as Houston finished a four-game sweep of Detroit for its seventh consecutive win.

GUARDIANS 4, BLUE JAYS 3 Oscar Mercado's tiebreaking, two-out single in the eighth lifted Cleveland over Toronto.

ROYALS 6-2, ORIOLES 4-4 Bruce Zimmermann (2-1) threw six effective innings and Baltimore beat Kansas City to earn a doubleheader split. The Royals won the opener when Michael A. Taylor hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth after a pair of two-out errors by the Orioles.

TWINS 4, ATHLETICS 3 Minnesota's bullpen combined for 62/3 shutout innings as the Twins sent Oakland to its ninth consecutive defeat.

WHITE SOX 3, RED SOX 2 Former University of Arkansas pitcher Dallas Keuchel (2-3) halted his three-start losing streak with six solid innings and Chicago earned its sixth win in a row.

YANKEES 2-2, RANGERS 1-4 Brad Miller snapped Michael King's (2-1) impressive scoreless streak with a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the seventh inning that lifted Texas over New York to salvage a doubleheader split. The Yankees took the opener 2-1 on Gleyber Torres' game-ending home run leading off the ninth.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES 9, BREWERS 2 Adam Duvall and William Contreras homered for Atlanta in a rout of Milwaukee.

DIAMONDBACKS 4, ROCKIES 0 Zac Gallen (2-0) pitched seven crisp innings, Jose Herrera hit a two-run double for his first big league RBI and Arizona blanked Colorado.

DODGERS 7, CUBS 1 Walker Buehler struck out six in seven solid innings as Los Angeles defeated Chicago,

GIANTS 4, CARDINALS 3 Mike Yastrzemski hit a tiebreaking home run and San Francisco only struck out once while beating St. Louis.

PADRES 3, MARLINS 2 Pinch-hitter Jorge Alfaro hit a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning to lift San Diego over Miami.

PHILLIES 3-1, METS 2-6 Pete Alonso homered twice, had three hits and drove in five runs to lead New York over Philadelphia in the second game for a doubleheader split. In the opener, Bryce Harper homered again off Max Scherzer (4-1) and Philadelphia became the first team to beat the new Mets ace, snapping a four-game skid.

REDS 7, PIRATES 3 Colin Moran hit a grand slam and a two-run home run in Cincinnati's win.

INTERLEAGUE

ANGELS 5, NATIONALS 4 Shohei Ohtani hit a tying double in the ninth inning, Anthony Rendon followed with a game-ending single against his former team and the Los Angeles Angels beat Washington.

  photo  Seattle Mariners' Ty France hits a walkoff single to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays during tenth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
 
 
  photo  Seattle Mariners players surround Ty France after he hit a walk off single to win 2-1 against the Tampa Bay Rays during a baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
 
 
  photo  Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby works against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inninga baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
 
 
  photo  Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough works against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
 
 
  photo  Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby smiles in the dugout after completing the sixth inning of his MLB debut, against the Tampa Bay Rays, during a baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
 
 
  photo  Tampa Bay Rays 'Ji-Man Choi reacts after striking out on a pitch form Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
 
 
  photo  Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby works in his MLB debut, against the Tampa Bay Rays, during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
 
 
  photo  Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Manuel Margot makes a sliding catch of a ball hit by Seattle Mariners' Ty France for an out during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 8, 2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
 
 

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