Garver copies Cal's game plan with decisive homer against Royals

KANSAS CITY -- Thanks to Cal Raleigh, the Mariners’ winning formula last year often revolved around getting home runs from the catcher’s position. They used that formula again on Friday night, but this time it was Mitch Garver cast in the spotlight.

Filling in for the injured Raleigh behind the plate, Garver snapped a scoreless tie in the seventh inning with a two-run homer off Royals reliever Nick Mears that lifted Seattle to a 2-0 victory at Kauffman Stadium.

Garver entered the series opener hitting .155 with one homer. He was retired in his first at-bat, but then drilled a sharp single in the fifth before unloading his towering shot to the left-field stands that helped get Seattle off to a good start on its six-game road trip.

Garver’s big blow enabled the Mariners to cash in a victory on a night when starter Logan Gilbert was extremely sharp, delivering 5 2/3 scoreless innings, while allowing just two singles. When the Royals put two on with two outs in the sixth, manager Dan Wilson went to Eduard Bazardo and the right-hander got Salvador Perez on a forceout to set the stage for Garver’s heroics.

The Royals applied more pressure in the eighth against Matt Brash, but with two on and two outs, Vinnie Pasquantino lined out to right field.