SEATTLE >> The Indians experienced something this weekend they haven’t since August of last season: A regular-season series loss.
Dee Gordon’s power and his glove in center field led the Mariners to a 5-4 win over the Tribe on April 1, taking two of the three games in the season-opening series.
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The Indians closed out last season going unbeaten in their final 18 series (15 wins, three ties) before losing to the Yankees in their best-of-five AL Division Series.
Gordon, who has never hit more than four homers in a season, led off the seventh inning with a tiebreaking shot to right off Dan Otero (0-1). He also made a sliding catch in the third after racing to deep left-center on a drive by Jason Kipnis.
Edwin Encarnacion went deep twice for the Indians, his 29th career multihomer game.
Gordon’s homer broke a 2-2 tie. A few batters later, Haniger added a two-run drive off reliever Tyler Olson to give Seattle a 5-2 lead.
They were the first runs Olson has allowed with Cleveland — last year he threw 20 scoreless innings in 30 appearances for the Indians.
Encarnacion cut the lead to one with his second homer in the eighth, a two-run shot.
“It’s only three games and I feel great at the plate,” Encarnacion said. “I’m seeing the ball good and I want to continue to be that consistent.”
Edwin Diaz struck out all three batters in the ninth for his second save.
Indians starter Trevor Bauer allowed two runs and five hits in five innings, striking out seven and walking three.
Up next
Indians >> Cleveland starts a three-game series at the Los Angeles Angels on April 2. RHP Mike Clevinger will make his first start of the season. Clevinger is 2-0 with a 3.94 ERA in four career starts against the Angels.
Mariners >> LHP Marco Gonzales opens a two-game series at San Francisco on April 3.