ANAHEIM, Calif., USA — Carlos Santanahe didn’t just give his mom a huge birthday present on Monday. He also got the Seattle Mariners back on track in their quest to make the postseason for the first time since 2001.
The slugger hit a pair of home runs, including his first grand slam in three years, Ty France drove in four runs and the Mariners snapped a three-game losing streak with a 9-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.
“My wife told me something like, ‘If I didn’t hit a home run, I don’t love my mom.’ I said, ‘I love my mom,'” Santana said after his 15th career multi-homer game and fourth this campaign. “I put a lot of love in there.”
The 13-year major league veteran – a key player for Cleveland in four playoff appearances, including the 2016 World Series – has hit 15 of his 19 home runs this season since Seattle acquired him from Kansas City in late June.
He has disappeared seven times in his last nine games with Seattle (81-65), which opened a 4 1/2-game lead over Baltimore for the final wild-card spot in the American League. The Orioles faced Detroit later.
“After the second one, I told him ‘you really love your mom,’ and he told me ‘she’s the best,'” manager Scott Servais said. “Carlos has been amazing. He’s the veteran in the locker room and guides the guys, even in this little slump. This kind of player is very important, especially when they hit grand slams.”
Logan Gilbert reached a career-high 11 strikeouts, allowing one run on four hits in six innings and helped the Mariners avoid losing a four-game series sweep at Angel Stadium for the first time in 10 years.
For the Mariners, Santana 2-5 with two runs scored and five RBIs.
For the Angels, the Venezuelans Luis Rengifo 4-1, Livan Soto 4-1. The Dominican Magneuris Sierra 4-0.
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Santana (2 HR, 5 CI) stopped the losing streak of the Mariners