Laureano’s grand slam powers Padres past Mariners

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SEATTLE (AP) — Ramon Laureano hit a grand slam in the first inning and the San Diego Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 7-6 on Tuesday night.

Laureano, acquired from the Baltimore Orioles ahead of last month’s trade deadline, turned on an elevated fastball from Mariners starter Luis Castillo in the first inning to give San Diego an early 5-0 lead.

The Padres coasted for the next few innings, but briefly ceded their lead in the fifth when the Mariners struck for six runs on a pair of three-run homers by Randy Arozarena and Eugenio Suárez.

San Diego responded in the top of the sixth. Jake Cronenworth poked a run-scoring single to the opposite field, and Freddy Fermin put the Padres up for good with a sacrifice bunt off Mariners reliever Caleb Ferguson (3-4).

Adrián Morejón (10-4) and three other Padres relievers combined to keep the Mariners in check the rest of the way, with Robert Suarez finishing off the game with his league-leading 35th save of the season.

With two outs and runners at the corners in the seventh, Suárez had a chance to even the contest at seven runs apiece. But instead, he grounded into a forceout to Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts, putting an end to the Mariners’ best scoring threat after the fifth inning.

Laureano’s grand slam was the second of his career. He also hit one on June 12, 2019 against the Tampa Bay Rays while a member of the Oakland Athletics.

Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo (11-7, 2.94 ERA) starts Wednesday. Padres right-hander Yu Darvish (3-3, 5.36) gets the ball for San Diego in the final game of the three-game set.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB