Major League Baseball
Seattle 2, Cleveland 1
When: 6:10 PM ET, Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland, Ohio
Temperature: 54°
Umpires: Home - John Tumpane, 1B - Lance Barksdale, 2B - Jeff Kellogg, 3B - Alan Porter
Attendance: 9890

CLEVELAND -- Taijuan Walker pitched six innings without allowing an earned run and Norichika Aoki's two-run triple provided all of the offense as the Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians 2-1 Wednesday night at Progressive Field.

Aoki's two-out, two-run triple in the second inning was the big hit in the game while Walker and three relievers combined on a four-hitter. Walker (1-0) pitched six innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits, with six strikeouts and no walks as he continued his mastery over Cleveland.

In three career starts vs. the Indians Walker is 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA. In 20 innings he has allowed one earned run on 13 hits, with 20 strikeouts and two walks.

The loss went to Danny Salazar (2-1) who was almost as stingy as Walker. Salazar pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits, with seven strikeouts and three walks. Salazar and two relievers combined on a three-hitter. Cleveland pitchers held Seattle hitless and scoreless over the last seven innings.

The Indians missed a great scoring opportunity in the eighth inning when Tyler Naquin led off with a single against Joaquin Benoit. But Jose Ramirez, trying to sacrifice, bunted into a force out at second, retiring Naquin. Ramirez then moved to second on a wild pitch, but Benoit retired the next two batters to end the inning.

Steve Cishek pitched the ninth to pick up his second save.

Seattle took a 2-0 lead in the second against Salazar.

Adam Lind led off the inning with a single to left field and went to second when Chris Iannetta walked. Salazar retired Leonys Martin on a flyout to center and Luis Sardinas struck out for the second out, but Aoki ripped a triple into the right-field corner, scoring Lind and Iannetta.

Cleveland got a run back in the bottom of the third.

With Naquin at first and one out, Ramirez hit a sharp grounder that handcuffed Lind at first base and skipped past him into right field. Ramirez made it to second on the two-base error and Naquin advanced to third. Naquin then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason Kipnis, cutting the Seattle lead to 2-1.

NOTES: The Indians activated OF Lonnie Chisenhall from the disabled list. He had been on the DL since the start of the season with a left wrist impingement. Chisenhall appeared in seven rehab games at Triple-A Columbus and Double-A Akron. To make room on the roster, the Indians optioned OF Collin Cowgill to Columbus. Cowgill appeared in nine games and was 1-for-12 (.083). ... Entering the game, Seattle was one of three bullpens in the majors, along with Tampa Bay and Oakland, to have not allowed an inherited runner to score this season. ... The Mariners are 4-0 when scoring four or more runs and 1-8 when scoring three or less.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Seattle   Cleveland
Taijuan Walker Player Danny Salazar
Win W/L Loss
6.0 IP 7.0
6 Strikeouts 7
3 Hits 3
0.00 ERA 2.57
Hitting
Seattle   Cleveland
Nelson Cruz Player Juan Uribe
1 Hits 1
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
1 TB 2
.333 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Seattle 3 0 5 .097 11 9 2 3 0 1
Cleveland 4 0 6 .133 12 9 1 1 0 1