Double Z: Zunino homers twice in Mariners' 8-1 win at Texas
Max Faulkner/TNS The Texas Rangers' Robinson Chirinos flies out to Seattle Mariners center fielder Guillermo Heredia (5) during the fourth inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Mike Zunino homered twice, Jean Segura also went deep and the Seattle Mariners won 8-1 at Texas on Wednesday night, jumping over the Rangers in the wild-card chase and handing Martin Perez his first loss in eight starts.
Zunino broke a scoreless tie with one out in the fifth with his 22nd homer, a rare shot into the second-level club deck in left field. It was only the 23rd homer to reach that section in the ballpark that is in its 24th season.
His second solo homer, to right-center in the seventh for his third multihomer game this season, capped a five-run outburst by the Mariners that inning.
Mike Leake struck out five and allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings to win his third consecutive start for the Mariners since they acquired him from St. Louis on Aug. 30. The right-hander was 7-12 in 26 starts for the Cardinals this season.
Perez (12-11) had won seven consecutive starts since losing Aug. 4 at Minnesota, and missed the chance to match Kenny Rogers’ franchise-record of eight in a row set in 2005. The lefty allowed three runs over 5 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and three walks.