CLEVELAND 6
SEATTLE 3
SEATTLE 鈥� Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona credited his bullpen for the team鈥檚 latest win.
Six relievers limited Seattle to just one hit over the 6 2/3 innings, and David Murphy had a two-run single in the Indians鈥� three-run 12th to beat the Mariners 6-3 Sunday.
鈥淣ow that was impressive,鈥� Francona said. 鈥淎ny time you鈥檙e on the road you鈥檙e always one pitch away (from losing).鈥�
Murphy鈥檚 bases-load hit with two outs helped Cleveland take three of four from the Mariners and get its 10th victory in 13 games.
鈥淚 can sit here and analyze it all I want,鈥� Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. 鈥淭he fact is we got five hits in 12 innings. You are not going to win. We鈥檝e got to swing the bats.鈥�
Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis had two doubles to finish May with 51 hits to go with 37 runs. He鈥檚 the first player since Philadelphia鈥檚 Jimmy Rollins in 2005 to go 50/30 in one month.
鈥淚n a four-game series, day game after a night game, it kind of a battle of wills and a battle of the bullpens,鈥� Kipnis said. 鈥淔irst, give credit to the bullpen. They stayed after it, we kept putting pressure on them and finally broke there at the end.
鈥淭he way we did it is much better,鈥� Kipnis added. 鈥淲e did it with a win in an extra-inning game. The 50 hits is lot of hard work coming to fruition, paying off in the cages. The 30 runs (are) just a credit to the team, them driving me in.鈥�
Francona said Kipnis had 鈥渁n unbelievable month. But forget the month, I think he鈥檚 an unbelievable player. He does so many things to help us win. It鈥檚 been like that for a while now. He鈥檚 been a force.鈥�
Lonnie Chisenhall opened the 12th with a walk off Dominic Leone (0-4), the eighth Mariners pitcher used. With one out, Jose Ramirez doubled off first baseman Logan Morrison鈥檚 glove. Chisenhall advanced to third.
鈥淚鈥檝e got to make that play,鈥� Morrison said. 鈥淚鈥檓 on the line for a reason, no doubles.鈥�
Kipnis was intentionally walked, loading the bases. Michael Brantley drew a two-out walk to force in the tiebreaking run. Murphy followed with his hit to add to the lead.
The Indians played the game under protest because of a disputed third out in the 12th.
Zach McAllister (1-2), who worked one inning, picked up the win. Austin Adams finished the 12th to earn his first career save.
鈥淚 think as a bullpen guy, no matter what type of pitcher you are, you like to compete,鈥� McAllister said. 鈥淵ou like to be out there with the game on the line and hopefully be successful at it.鈥�
Brandon Moss had four hits for the first time this season and fifth time in his career. Ryan Raburn had a solo shot in the sixth, his third.
The Indians had a season-high 18 hits and left a season-high 17 runners on base.
Seattle scored three runs in the fifth on a throwing error by third baseman Mike Aviles, a single by Austin Jackson and a sacrifice fly by Robinson Cano.
TRAINER鈥橲 ROOM
Mariners: RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (strained lat), on the DL since April 24, threw catch from 90 feet Friday. He could be on the mound by the end of the week.
Indians: INF Carlos Santana came off the restricted list Sunday after missing three games to be with his wife Brittany, who gave birth Thursday morning to a girl. To make room, OF Jerry Sands, who hit a two-run home run Saturday, was returned to Triple-A Columbus.
UP NEXT
Mariners: RHP Felix Hernandez (8-1, 1.91) starts against the Yankees on Monday night. Since 2009, he is 8-2 with a 2.11 ERA in 13 starts, with four complete games, against them. Hernandez leads the league in wins, whip (0.89) and is third in ERA and strikeouts (71).
Yankees: RHP Michael Pineda (6-2, 3.36) will be facing his former team for the first time since his 2012 trade to New York.
MERRY MONTH OF MAY
Kipnis is the ninth Indians player since 1914 to go 50/30 in a month, and the first since Jeff Heath in August 1938. He also is the first Indians player ever to have 50 hits in May.
TUESDAY PLANNING
The Mariners need a starter Tuesday against the Yankees after LHP James Paxton (strained finger tendon) was placed on the DL Friday. It could be LHP Mike Montgomery from Triple-A Tacoma. He was scratched from his start Sunday. McClendon was non-committal. Montgomery is a former first-round draft choice of the Kansas City Royals who has bounced around the minors. He is 4-3 with a 3.74 ERA for Triple-A Tacoma.
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22:36ET 31-05-15
