Facing his old team gave Randy Arozarena the boost he sorely needed. Arozarena, acquired from Tampa Bay prior to the trade deadline, snapped out of a 3-for-38 slump with a tiebreaking three-run homer to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 5-1 victory against the visiting Rays on Monday. The three-game series continues on Tuesday in Seattle.
The homer was Arozarena's first at home as a Mariner. "Something I'm not going to ever do is lose my confidence, but when something like that happens, it just boosts your confidence a little more," Arozarena said through an interpreter. "I have to just continue working outside the field, because I know things are going to come.
"I'm not losing sleep over it. I know I'm not helping the team as much as they want, but I know it's just a small streak and things will turn around." Rays manager Kevin Cash wasn't surprised that Arozarena came up big against his club.
"I have so much respect for him," Cash said. "I know he's pretty motivated to play against us." Arozarena was asked before the series opener if he thought Cash would try to pitch around him.
"He's not going to want to give me anything, but I'm still going to try and hit a homer," said Arozarena, who went deep in the third inning to snap a 1-1 tie. Jorge Polanco also homered for Seattle and Bryce Miller allowed one run on two hits and no walks over seven innings while matching a career high with 10 strikeouts. The Mariners improved to 3-1 under new manager Dan Wilson and pulled within 3 1/.