Mariners score season-high 16 runs against A's to snap four-game losing skid

OAKLAND — In the 12 th game of his Major League managerial career, Dan Wilson seems to have uncovered the perfect game plan to avoid the frustrating and crushing feeling of losing by one run or on a walkoff hit.

What is this groundbreaking strategy?

Score a whole bunch of runs early in the game off the starting pitcher, score even more in the middle innings off the bullpen and then tack on a few more runs just for run to avoid any late-inning drama.

If only baseball were so simple.

The Mariners scored five runs off Oakland starter J.P. Sears over the first five innings, then torched his replacement Janson Junk for seven runs in the top of the seventh and added a few more for style in the eighth inning to cruise to a comfortable 16-3 rout of the A’s on Wednesday night.

The lopsided victory snapped a four-game losing streak on this current road trip where the Mariners had scored a combined 12 runs in all one-run losses.

The 16 runs were a season high for the Mariners, who scored in double figures for the first time since a 10-1 win over the Pirates on Aug. 18.

The Mariners moved back to .500 at 70-70 and will play their final game at the Oakland Coliseum on Thursday afternoon with Bryan Woo, who was born and raised in Alameda, just two miles away, fittingly making the start.

So who led the offensive onslaught on a night where every starter had a hit and scored a run?

Well, of course, it was the duo of Mitch Garver and Luis Urias.

Garver, who went from the everyday designated hitter to an occasional designated hitter and backup catcher, had a pair of hits off Sears — a two-run double in the second inning and an RBI single in the fourth inning to help build an early 5-1 lead. He later drove in his fourth run of the game with a fielder’s choice.

Urias, who was acquired to serve in a platoon role with Josh Rojas at third base and played his way to a demotion to Tacoma, smacked an RBI double off Sears in the fourth inning. He drove in a pair of runs in the seventh inning, smashing a solo homer off Junk and working a base-loaded walk. He later added an RBI double.

The bottom four hitters in the Mariners order — Victor Robles, Garver, Urias and Dylan Moore — combined for 10 hits in 17 at-bats with seven runs scored, 13 RBI, two walks and two strikeouts.

It was the most runs Seattle had scored in a game since scoring 16 runs in a wild 16-13 comeback victory over the Padres on June 2, 2016. It was a game where the Mariners trailed 12-2.

Seattle trailed for a half inning when starter George Kirby allowed a leadoff double to Lawrence Butler on his first pitch of the game and an RBI single to Brent Rooker on his second pitch of the game.

But Kirby reeled in his outing, working six innings and allowing two runs on six hits with no walks and nine strikeouts.