Slugged in Seattle: Oakland knocked around in 13-3 loss

SEATTLE (AP) The first start of Zach Neal's career was perfect for five batters. The Oakland right-hander even struck out Nelson Cruz his first time at the plate.

''It started off good and everything after that wasn't ideal, for sure,'' Neal said.

Adam Lind hit home runs in his first two at-bats and had a season-best six RBIs while the Seattle Mariners scored a season-high in runs in a 13-3 rout of the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night.

Neal was called up from Triple-A Nashville to make the start after his first stint with the A's earlier this season came in relief against Boston. And while the beginning and end was solid for Neal, the in between innings were forgettable.

Lind's solo home run with two outs in the second inning was just the start. He capped the Mariners' six-run third inning with a three-run shot off Neal as Seattle sent nine men to the plate and recorded seven hits in the inning.

''It just kind of seemed everything they hit was finding a hole. That's all there is to it, that's how baseball is sometimes,'' Neal said.

Not much went right for the A's, who lost for the sixth time in seven games. Neal was knocked around, as were relievers Marc Rzepczynski and Andrew Triggs. Rzepczynski gave up three hits and recorded just two outs, while Triggs was tagged for six hits, five runs and allowed homers to Cruz and Robinson Cano in two innings of relief.

But the problems weren't isolated on the mound. Even when the A's got something started offensively the results weren't there. Billy Burns was thrown out trying for a triple for the final out of the third inning, deceived by the passive reaction from Seattle third baseman Kyle Seager and choosing not to slide. Third base coach Ron Washington was also caught off guard and took the blame for the result of the play.

''It was all me. Billy was coming and I just made my call too soon, and I screwed it up,'' Washington said.

Khris Davis hit his 13th home run of the season in the second for Oakland, and Burns and Coco Crisp both had RBIs, but the A's were unable to shake Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma. The right-hander threw seven innings for the second time this month against Oakland and struck out four, picking up the 50th win of his career.

''You're hoping to come back and put together a rally and score some runs and make it a game, is what you're hoping. If you're hoping it gets over, I don't know why you even play,'' Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. ''At one point we came back it was 7-3 and we had a chance, and then it got out of reach a little bit.''

The AL West-leading Mariners won their 11th series of the season, this time behind Lind's hitting.

Along with the two home runs, Lind added a two-out RBI single in the fifth inning and an RBI double off the wall in the seventh that barely missed being his third home run of the game.

''There has been incremental improvements throughout probably the last two or three weeks,'' Lind said. ''Tonight it all worked out.''

Cruz's homer was his 10th of the season and Cano added his 14th an inning later. Seattle improved to 10-11 at home after taking the final two games of the series. Seattle rallied from a 5-2 deficit to win on Tuesday night, capped by Martin's game-ending two-run homer in the ninth inning.

ROSTER MOVES

Athletics: Oakland optioned left-handed pitcher Daniel Coulombe and utility player Max Muncy to Triple-A Nashville to clear roster spots for Jed Lowrie and Neal. Lowrie had been on the 15-day disabled list with a right shin contusion.

Mariners: Seattle recalled Sardinas and optioned IF Chris Taylor to Triple-A Tacoma. Taylor was with Seattle for just three games and committed two errors in one inning on Monday's loss to Oakland. Sardinas and O'Malley will split time at shortstop until Ketel Marte comes off the disabled list.

UP NEXT

Athletics: After a day off, Oakland opens a homestand against Detroit on Friday with Sean Manaea (1-2) getting the start.

Mariners: Seattle is off on Thursday before hosting Minnesota starting Friday. Felix Hernandez (4-3) gets the start.