Marco Gonzales was looking for some retribution against the Kansas City Royals.
Gonzales (8-5) pitched a six-hitter for his first career complete game in the Seattle Mariners‘ 4-1 victory on Friday. The left-hander struck out seven and didn’t issue a walk while throwing just 96 pitches.
”My last outing against these guys didn’t go great – my second start of the year
Adidas Mika Zibanejad Jersey , I think – so I was looking for some payback, too. So I was a little more amped than usual,” Gonzales said.
Mitch Haniger and Mike Zunino homered for Seattle.
Gonzales had been chased after just 2 1/3 innings of what became a 10-0 loss on April 9, but Friday’s start was much different. Gonzalez, who’d never taken a game into the eighth inning until going 7 1/3 innings against Tampa Bay earlier this month, didn’t need more than 13 pitches to finish any inning against the Royals.
”He has a lot of confidence right now because everything that’s happened to him this year, he’s earned,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
Whit Merrifield singled to lead off the game and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Rosell Herrera. Gonzales picked Merrifield off second base to erase the baserunner and would retire nine straight batters before running into a spot of trouble in the fourth.
Herrera doubled off the glove of left fielder Denard Span with one out. An infield single from Mike Moustakas put runners on the corners, but Gonzales induced an inning-ending double play from Salvador Perez to keep the Royals off the board.
”The way that we’ve been playing and the fun that we’ve been having, I can’t wait for my fifth day to come,” Gonzales said. ”To be able to go out there and contribute in a positive way and have these guys rally behind you is pretty incredible.”
Royals starter Ian Kennedy (1-8) retired the first 10 batters he faced before running into trouble in the fourth. Jean Segura reached on an infield single to give Seattle its first baserunner of the game. Haniger followed with a two-run blast over the center-field wall to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.
After fouling off three straight pitches with a 2-2 count, Zunino blasted a solo home run two rows from the top of the upper deck in left field to extend the Mariners’ lead to 3-0 in the fifth.
Kennedy left after five innings due to tightness in his left side that surfaced on the last pitch to Zunino.
”I felt it grab,” Kennedy said. ”And then the rest of the inning it stayed tight. The last couple pitches I was compensating for it, so I knew … the right thing to do is to say something.”
Segura added a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning off Brandon Maurer to give Seattle a 4-0 advantage.
Adalberto Mondesi doubled to open the ninth and Moustakas delivered a two-out single to center field to drive home the only run of the game for the Royals.
BONIFACIO RETURNS
Outfielder Jorge Bonifacio was recalled and back in the lineup for the Royals on Friday after completing an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Bonifacio was suspended in March after testing positive for Boldenone
Barry Sanders Jersey , which is an anabolic androgenic steroid. Bonifacio started the game in left field and went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. He hit .255 with 17 home runs and 40 RBIs in 113 games as a rookie in 2017. OF Ryan Goins was designated for assignment on Thursday to clear a roster spot. ”It was a tough time down there in Arizona. But I learned from it. It’s never going to happen again,” Bonifacio said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: C Perez was back in the lineup after exiting Wednesday’s game in Milwaukee in the ninth inning after taking a foul ball off his right leg.
Mariners: 3B Kyle Seager was back in the lineup after making only a pinch-hit appearance in Baltimore on Sunday. Seager has an ”avulsion fracture” in his big toe and was given the day off in the field to rest. It’s not expected to require a disabled list stint and Seager is planning to play through the injury.
UP NEXT
Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (2-9) will make his 17th start of the season on Saturday. Hammel has lost four straight starts and has allowed at least three earned runs in three of the four outings.
Mariners: RHP Felix Hernandez (7-6) will take the hill for the 18th time this season as he looks to continue a run of strong starts. After a rough first two months of the season, Hernandez has allowed just one earned run in three of his five starts in June.
It’s not uncommon for Colorado Rockies pitchers to have better statistics on the road than at mile-high Coors Field.
But right-hander German Marquez, who is scheduled to start his team’s series opener Friday night in Seattle, is taking it to the extreme.
Marquez (6-8, 5.14 ERA) is 4-3 with a 2.76 ERA on the road, which ranks fourth in the National League. Opponents are batting .194 against him on the road, with a .600 on-base plus slugging percentage.
At home? Marquez is 2-5 with a 7.93 ERA, a .345 batting average against and a .991 OPS.
In his last start, the 23-year-old Venezuelan pitched a career-high-tying eight innings in a 3-1 road victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He allowed two hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out nine.
Marquez threw a 99.9 mph fastball in his final inning, the hardest by a starter in the eighth inning or later this season.
“I work hard between starts, and my goal is to maintain my stamina throughout the game, deep in games
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Rockies manager Bud Black, a former major league pitcher, certainly seemed impressed with Marquez’s four-pitch mix, that includes the fastball, curve, slider and changeup.
“He’s capable because we’ve seen moments and innings and certain stretches of games where he’s pitched like that through three, four, five innings,” Black said. “But to do it eight innings on the road against a good team, it’s not surprising, but it’s a big step for a young pitcher.”
Marquez, who was born in San Felix, will likely get a chance to face King Felix as he takes on the Mariners for the first time.
Fellow Venezuelan Felix Hernandez (8-6, 5.11 ERA) has struggled this season
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Hernandez allowed three first-inning runs against Kansas City in his last start while dealing with a stiff back, but followed that with four scoreless frames in a 6-4 Seattle victory.
Hernandez hurt his back lifting weights in Baltimore on the Mariners’ last road trip. He threw a short bullpen session Tuesday.
“I’m better,” Hernandez told MLB.com before playing catch in the outfield Thursday. “(Wednesday) was much better and I’m more loose today, so I’ll be fine.”
Said Mariners manager Scott Servais: “I think he’ll be OK. He’s getting treatment on it and trying to get it loosened up. I don’t think it’s anything structurally wrong, it’s just tight. We need him to go. Hopefully he’ll give us a good effort.”
The Mariners placed catcher Mike Zunino on the 10-day disabled list (bruised left ankle) Thursday and recalled David Freitas from Triple-A Tacoma.
Chris Herrmann, who has made six starts since being called up May 27, will likely get the bulk of the time behind the plate. Herrmann has mostly caught Mike Leake, but also caught Hernandez’s June 25 start in Baltimore.
Hermann homered Thursday in Seattle’s 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
“Thankfully with all the video and information we have here, it makes it a lot easier to get to know the pitchers a lot better,” Herrmann told MLB.com. “And I sit in here and talk with these guys and get an idea of how they want to get hitters out.”