PITTSBURGH — Cal Raleigh, Josh Rojas and Dominic Canzone all homered, and the road-weary Mariners busted out of their prolonged slump in emphatic fashion Sunday afternoon with a 10-3 victory over the Pirates at PNC Park.
George Kirby rebounded from the worst start of his career to throw six strong innings, and the Mariners (64-61) snapped a five-game losing streak.
Everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit, and the Mariners had 13 hits in all, four for extra bases. Their 10 runs Sunday were more than they’d scored in the previous five games (9) combined.
It was the Mariners’ first win in a week — since a 12-1 romp of the New York Mets the previous Sunday before a nationally televised audience on ESPN to complete a rousing sweep.
At that point, the Mariners were tied with the Houston Astros atop the AL West.
A week later, they went into the series finale in Pittsburgh trailing the Astros by four games — and with a daunting trip to Dodger Stadium looking Monday.
They had to have Sunday’s game, and Raleigh’s first inning blast off Pirates starter Jake Woodford offered some immediate relief.
Julio Rodriguez reached on an infield single with one out and scored when Raleigh — using his new Sonics “Bring ‘em Back” bat for MLB’s Players’ Weekend — pulled a sweeper from Woodford out to right field.
It was Raleigh’s 27th homer of the season. He leads all MLB catchers in homers for the third straight year.
The Mariners scored two more in the second when Victor Robles — after failing on a sac bunt attempt — ripped a double down the left-field line, scoring Rojas and Leo Rivas.
The Mariners broke it open with a three-run fourth inning.
Rojas drove a 92-mph sinker from Woodford out to center field, a 408-foot blast for his seventh homer of the season.
A throwing error on Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo brought in another run, and Luke Raley followed with a sac fly to bring home Victor and extend the Mariners’ lead to 7-0.
Canzone hit a 416-foot homer off one-time Mariner reliever Ryder Ryan in the fifth inning.
Kirby allowed only a two-run homer to Joey Bart in the sixth inning. He scattered four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in six complete.