Mariners Routed by Brewers after Griffey Ceremony

(AP) Mariners routed by Brewers after Griffey ceremony
By TIM BOOTH
AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE
This was not the kind of assist Michael Morse wanted, especially on a night one of the best defensive outfielders ever was being honored.

Scooter Gennett capped Milwaukee’s six-run seventh inning with a three-run homer off Morse’s glove, and the Brewers ruined the Mariners’ night honoring former star Ken Griffey Jr. with a 10-0 win on Saturday night.

Morse’s unintentional assist was the capper to a sloppy inning by the Mariners on a night they honored the greatest player to wear a Seattle uniform. Griffey was inducted to the team Hall of Fame before the game, then saw his old club give up two big innings to the Brewers.

Griffey became the seventh member of the team’s Hall of Fame. It was an emotional ceremony that brought the first sellout crowd of the season for the Mariners. The ceremony was supposed to last about 30 minutes, but Griffey’s speech was nearly 25 minutes itself and the entire ceremony went for nearly an hour.

The game started 17 minutes late and a scheduled first pitch from Griffey to his father was skipped because the pregame ceremony ran so long.

Still, it was an electric night and a ceremony that moved Griffey to tears a couple of times.

Tom Gorzelanny had his best performance of the season for the Brewers. Making his seventh start after beginning the season in the bullpen, Gorzelanny (3-4) gave up just three hits in seven innings.

Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma (10-6) matched Gorzelanny for the first six innings, but quickly fell apart in the seventh.

Carlos Gomez started the inning with a bunt single, diving around the tag attempt of Justin Smoak at first base to reach safely. Iwakuma said he tweaked his back on the play and struggled to get the ball down in the strike zone from there.

Caleb Gindl then chopped a grounder to the left side as Gomez was running on the pitch. Shortstop Brad Miller fielded the ball, but made the mistake of throwing to first when it was clear he wouldn’t get Gindl. That allowed Gomez to reach third and put runners on the corners with no outs.

Khris Davis then hit a shot down to third base that Kyle Seager backhanded. He tried to get Gomez at the plate but his throw was slightly high and Gomez was safe after crashing into catcher Humberto Quintero and knocking the ball free. Quintero stayed down briefly as the inside of his right knee collided with Gomez’s right knee, but he remained in the game.

Gomez said Quintero was unhappy being run into and let him know it when he came up for his next at-bat.

Juan Francisco then doubled to left-center on Iwakuma’s next pitch to score Gindl and give the Brewers a 2-0 advantage. Yuniesky Betancourt added an RBI single before Gennett’s second homer of the season. Morse had a shot at pulling back the drive, but it deflected off his glove and over the fence.

The six batters who scored in the seventh were a combined 0 for 11 in the game against Iwakuma before that inning. Iwakuma hadn’t thrown more than 10 pitches in any inning between the third and sixth before it all fell apart. He gave up nine hits and six runs and lost his second straight decision.

Notes: Milwaukee scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games for the second time this season. … Griffey joined late Hall of Fame broadcaster Dave Niehaus, and former teammates Alvin Davis, Randy Johnson, Dan Wilson, Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez being honored by the club. … Gorzelanny improved to 2-0 all-time against Seattle as a starter. … Seattle had committed seven errors in its previous three games before staying clean defensively on Saturday.