Lewis hits fifth homer in nine days, Mariners top Bucs 4-1

PITTSBURGH (AP) — After hitting four home runs in his first six games, Kyle Lewis finally hit a rough patch when he struck out four times in his last one.

One day later, the Seattle Mariners’ 24-year-old rookie right fielder went deep again.

Lewis homered for the fifth time in eight major league games, and the Mariners beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 Wednesday night for their fourth straight win.

“It’s always an honor being able to do things that kind of are groundbreaking,” Lewis said. “It’s always cool. So I am sure looking back on it, I will be able to reflect on those kinds of things down the road. But right now I am in the moment and am keeping working.”

With Seattle leading 2-0 in the fourth inning, Lewis sent a sinker from Pirates starter Dario Agrazal (4-5) 383 feet to right field for a solo home run.

“I actually think I executed the pitch well,” Agrazal said. “If anything, I tip my hat, I take off my hat, to that hitter. I feel like I threw the ball well. I executed it well. He connected well, and I have to tip my hat to him.”

Tom Murphy followed with another homer, taking Agrazal 420 feet to center field for his 18th homer run and a 4-0 lead.

Agrazal, a rookie right-hander, allowed the four runs and six hits while striking out six in five innings.

Tommy Milone (4-9) relieved Justin Dunn to start the third inning for Seattle before allowing two hits and using just 51 pitches to get through five shutout innings. Matt Magill allowed back-to-back singles to start the ninth before retiring the next three batters for his fifth save.

“Tommy threw the ball really well tonight,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Tommy had a real good changeup. Kept them off-balance tonight. It was great to see. Got us deep into the ballgame, and got enough offense.”

The Pirates lost a fifth straight game since winning three of four from Sept. 9-12. They have been outscored 57-16 during the losing streak, including 10-1 in the first two games of this series.

“We had three hard-hit balls in seven innings. We had five hard-hit balls in the last two innings,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We had six balls that either the catcher or the pitcher made a play on. … We hit balls hard, but it was just too late.”

Dylan Moore put the Mariners ahead 2-0 with a two-out, two-run double down the left field line in the second inning.

Cole Tucker had a pinch-hit triple for Pittsburgh before scoring on a groundout from Kevin Newman, making it 4-1 in the eighth.

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