Guardians edge Mariners in back-and-forth affair

CLEVELAND (Interstat) — Slade Cecconi pitched six innings of three-hit shutout ball and the Cleveland Guardians rallied past the Seattle Mariners 4-3 on Saturday afternoon at Progressive Field before 33,309 in a game that took 2:38.

Cleveland jumped ahead with three runs in the fourth inning. Kahlil Watson doubled to score Travis Bazzana and a single by Cooper Ingle brought home two more. Brayan Rocchio added an RBI double in the fifth to make it 4-0.

Seattle’s Randy Arozarena answered with a three-run homer in the eighth, his eighth of the season, scoring Julio Rodríguez and Dominic Canzone, but the Mariners could not complete the comeback.

Cecconi (4-6) struck out four and allowed no earned runs. Logan Gilbert (6-5) took the loss despite seven strikeouts over seven innings, surrendering four earned runs on seven hits. Cade Smith earned his 25th save with a scoreless ninth.

Seattle outhit Cleveland 8-7. The Mariners fell to 42-42; the Guardians improved to 43-40.