Mitch Haniger and Mike Zunino homered against Ervin Santana early, and the Seattle Mariners bullpen held off the Minnesota Twins late in a 6-4 victory Wednesday night.
Santana, the Twins ace, lasted just five innings while giving up five runs and nine hits.
All the Twins runs were accounted for by home runs. Eduardo Escobar and Byron Buxton had solo shots and Miguel Sano had a two-run homer.
Ben Gamel added three hits and two runs for the Mariners, who have won 12 of 17 games. Rookie Sam Gaviglio picked up the win by pitching into the sixth inning, and four relief pitchers combined to close the door on the Twins’ attempt to come back from a 5-0 deficit.
Edwin Diaz recorded four outs and dealt with a scare in the ninth inning to pick up his 11th save in 13 opportunities and bring Seattle one win away from the .500 mark.
