WASHINGTON (AP) — Rookie Colt Emerson homered in a five-run second inning and the Seattle Mariners routed the Washington Nationals 10-2 after a long rain delay Friday night to open a three-game series.
Bryce Miller allowed two runs in a career-high eight innings for AL West-leading Seattle, which lost outfielder Randy Arozarena in the third inning to a leg injury while running through first base on a groundout. Manager Dan Wilson said Arozarena might have suffered a hamstring strain, a spasm or a cramp and will be re-evaluated Saturday.
James Wood hit his 19th homer for Washington (35-35), which slipped back to .500 and fell to an NL-worst 12-21 at home.
The game was delayed 2 hours, 11 minutes at the start because of rain.
Dominic Canzone opened the scoring with a two-run triple to center in the second, then came around on Miles Mastrobuoni’s sacrifice fly. Jhonny Pereda singled before Emerson ripped Zack Littell’s fastball to deep center.
Emerson is the fourth Mariner to hit five home runs before his 21st birthday, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (38), Alex Rodriguez (26) and José López (five).
Miller (3-0) allowed Wood’s homer to lead off the fourth and Dylan Crews’ blast to open the eighth, but didn’t permit another runner past first base. He struck out seven while yielding four hits and no walks.
Cole Young scored on a wild pitch and Luke Raley hit a two-run single in the fifth for Seattle. Canzone led off the eighth with a homer, and Josh Naylor added a solo shot in the ninth.
Littell (6-5) allowed five runs in 1 2/3 innings without recording a strikeout. He threw 43 of his 56 pitches in the second inning.
Up next
Seattle RHP Luis Castillo (2-5, 5.16 ERA) was set to face RHP Cade Cavalli (3-4, 3.88) on Saturday.
___
Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena leaves with apparent leg injury
WASHINGTON (AP) — Seattle outfielder Randy Arozarena left the Mariners’ game Friday night against the Washington Nationals because of a leg injury.
“I think a little bit of a hamstring strain, might have been more of a spasm or a cramp kind of a thing,” manager Dan Wilson said after Seattle’s 10-2 victory. “It’s day to day at this point and we’ll kind of assess it a little bit more in the morning and see how he’s doing.”
The 31-year-old Arozarena started limping after running out a grounder to third in the third inning and eventually walked off the field. He did not come out for the bottom half of the inning, with Luke Raley moving from right field to Arozarena’s spot in left and Victor Robles taking over in right.
Arozarena, a two-time All-Star and the American League’s rookie of the year in 2021, is hitting .291 with seven homers and 33 RBIs. He stole his 19th base in the second inning.
Arozarena is one of three Mariners to play in every game so far this season, along with outfielder Julio Rodríguez and second baseman Cole Young.