Haniger, Moore key Seattle's offensive surge

SEATTLE -- The message from the manager was explicit, delivered with frustration and urgency mounting following yet another night when the Mariners were on no-hit watch. Seattle, in the words of Scott Servais, needed to begin bringing the intensity it's shown in its many late comebacks to the early innings.

That edict came Thursday, when the club had just two hits for the second straight night and were held hitless into the eighth by Zach Plesac. By Saturday, it appeared the bats had heeded said message.

The Mariners jumped on Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie for four runs in the first four innings, including a solo homer from Mitch Haniger in the first and a three-run shot from Dylan Moore in the fourth. They batted through the lineup twice in that span, too, and rode six strong innings from Justus Sheffield to a 7-3 win at T-Mobile Park.

This all came on a night when Jarred Kelenic, who willed the Mariners to a big win on Friday, went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts, including two looking, from the leadoff spot.

• Servais: Kelenic will 'keep pushing envelope'

Haniger’s shot, his 12th of the season and second in as many games, catapulted him into a tie with Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. for the MLB lead. More notably, at 438 feet, it was his longest homer since 2018 and his longest all-time at T-Mobile Park. These are all telling signs in the eyes of Seattle’s right fielder that his body movements and swing are in as good a place as they’ve ever been.

“I feel like I'm moving better,” said Haniger, who also singled to finish 2-for-4. “And I feel like if you're moving better and you have more body awareness and body control, you're going to be able to make adjustments faster and you're able to get more out of your swing or running form, whatever it may be. And, I think, combining awareness and control in certain positions that I was working really hard on improving, I think it's really helped.”

Moore, the Mariners’ hottest hitter over the past week and a half, is now 9-for-28 with three homers and eight RBIs since the start of the most recent road trip on May 7, a span of eight games. He has a hit in seven of them -- this all coming after Moore was hitting .129/.250/.247 over his first 31 games.

The homer was the marquee highlight, but Servais said that the more impressive piece of hitting came on an opposite-field double on Friday. It was a telling reflection of the adjustments the second baseman has made recently.

“Those are really good signs -- using the whole field and instead of being out in front, hooking some balls foul and rolling them over to the left side of the infield,” Servais said. “D-Mo has got power. When he squares it up, he can do some damage with it. But you can't get in that power mode. He just needs to be a good hitter.”

Really, the entire bottom half of the lineup contributed to run production that helped the Mariners plate seven for the second straight game.

One day after being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma, Donovan Walton had two hits in the No. 9 hole, including a two-run triple -- his first in the Majors -- in the eighth inning that put the game out of reach. No. 5 hitter José Marmolejos was one of those runs that scored after leading off the inning with a walk. The first baseman also had a critical sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Batting seventh, J.P. Crawford continued his consistency by going 1-for-3 with a walk -- he's now reached base in 28 of his past 33 games. The shortstop’s 87.2 percent contact rate this month is by far the best on the team and 13th best among 155 qualified hitters.

“I think the key to our success is getting the bats going, one through nine, and not relying on any one guy,” Haniger said. “I think we need to be a threat, one through nine, and have good at-bats and really put a lot of pressure on the pitcher, and I felt like we did that tonight.”