Seattle, WA – Ryan Vogelsong tossed seven-plus strong innings on Friday and the San Francisco Giants knocked off the Seattle Mariners, 4-2, in the opener of a three-game interleague set at Safeco Field.
Vogelsong (6-2) was charged with two runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts to collect the win. Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo combined to finish the eighth and Santiago Casilla recorded his 18th save of the year with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
"He keeps focused, he was a little off today but he finds a way to get it done." Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's nice to be able to take these guys deep into the game, it allows you to use them the way you want to use them."
Melky Cabrera blasted a two-run home run and Buster Posey ripped a solo shot for the Giants, who have won three of their last four games. Joaquin Arias added an RBI on a sacrifice fly.
Ichiro Suzuki and Franklin Gutierrez each knocked in a run and Miguel Olivo added two hits and a run scored for the Mariners, losers of six consecutive games.
Jason Vargas (7-6) allowed four runs on 10 hits and a pair of walks while striking out one over eight innings to absorb the loss.
"Jason was good. He made a mistake there on the homer, but he kept us in it," remarked Mariners manager Eric Wedge. "You just have to take advantage of opportunities when they are presented."
San Francisco plated the first run of the game in the second when Posey led off the inning by crushing a changeup from Vargas deep into the seats in left.
Seattle put runners on first and second in the third courtesy of a double by Olivo and a walk to Brendan Ryan, but Vogelsong got Suzuki to pop out before inducing an inning-ending groundout from Gutierrez.
Angel Pagan drew a walk to start the San Francisco fourth and made it to third on a double by Brandon Belt. Arias then lofted a sacrifice fly to center.
The M's put two men on base again in the home half of the fourth on walks to Kyle Seager and Jesus Montero, but Vogelsong got Michael Saunders to fly out and induced a double-play groundout from Justin Smoak to keep his team in front.
The Giants essentially put the game away in the eighth when Gregor Blanco singled to start the inning and trotted home when Cabrera got a hold of a fastball from Vargas and sent it deep into the left-center field seats -- an estimated 480 feet away -- for the 4-0 cushion.
Seattle got two runs back in the eighth on RBI groundouts by Suzuki and Gutierrez.
Game Notes
Following the two walks in the fourth, Vogelsong retired 11 consecutive batters. He has thrown at least six innings in all 11 of his starts this season...San Francisco has hit 31 home runs on the road this season and just 12 at home...Prior to Friday's game, the Giants placed first baseman/outfielder Aubrey Huff on the 15-day disabled list and recalled Justin Christian from Triple-A Fresno. Christian went 0-for-3 on Friday in the designated hitter role.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.