ST. PETERSBURG -- The Mariners needed a day like Sunday. With one big exception.
They got the timely hits they had been looking for all week long in an 8-2 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field. They received a fantastic effort from their bullpen. They earned a reason to feel optimistic ahead of the cross-country flight that will take them into the All-Star break.
But even on a good day, the Mariners still had a cause for concern.
Right-handed starter Emerson Hancock left the game in the bottom of the second inning, one frame after he took a sharp comebacker off of his pitching hand.
Although Hancock stayed in after deflecting Yandy Díaz’s 107.2 mph grounder, he was lifted with two outs in the second after an in-game visit from manager Dan Wilson and head athletic trainer Kyle Torgerson. Hancock retired five of the six batters he faced. He issued a walk to Victor Mesa Jr. immediately before he was relieved by José A. Ferrer.
As a clearly disappointed Hancock made his way to Seattle’s dugout, he continued to look at his right hand.
The right-hander instinctually reached out for Díaz’s hot shot on his first pitch of the game. Once the ball smacked off his hand, Hancock had the wherewithal to get off the mound, field the ball and make a throw to first for the out. As Hancock released the throw, he fell to the Tropicana Field turf, landing on his right shoulder.
Emerson walked back atop the mound, shaking his right hand and flexing his middle and index fingers. After throwing a handful of warm-up pitches under the watchful eyes of Wilson and Torgerson, he was deemed OK to continue.
Hancock retired the next two batters on five pitches, including a strikeout of Rays star Junior Caminero on a 79 mph cutter. His stuff still looked sharp, and he didn’t experience any significant change in velocity.
But after Hancock’s full-count, 96.5 mph sinker to Mesa missed away, he continued to look down at his impacted extremity and departed soon after.
As Hancock nursed his hand, the Mariners’ bullpen had his back. Ferrer, Nick Davila, Gabe Speier, Michael Rucker, Eduard Bazardo and Andrés Muñoz combined to hold the team with the best record in the American League to two runs over 7 1/3 frames.
While its pitchers put up zeroes, Seattle’s bats finally came to life after scoring a total of 12 runs during its five-game losing streak. All-Star outfielder Randy Arozarena delivered the biggest blow, a three-run homer in the fourth inning.
The former Rays star bopped 44 dingers inside the Trop during his five-year run with Tampa Bay. As his first dinger as a visitor reached the right-field seats, Arozarena flashed a wide smile toward the home dugout along the first-base line.
The Mariners also snapped their prolonged offensive drought with runners in scoring position. After 27 consecutive hitless at-bats in RISP situations dating back to Tuesday, Cole Young finally broke the seal with a single to right field in the second inning that loaded the bases.
Three batters later -- and with the bases reloaded following a sacrifice fly from Victor Robles and a walk to Buddy Kennedy -- J.P. Crawford fought off an inside fastball from Rays starter Ian Seymour and blooped it into shallow left for a two-run double, giving the veteran infielder his first RBIs in 14 games.