Aaron Civale pitched seven smooth innings, and Josh Naylor and Andrés Giménez homered as the Cleveland Guardians beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0 on Saturday night.
Civale allowed only two hits and a walk with three strikeouts. The seven-inning stint matched his longest outing of last season.
Julio Rodríguez had both hits off Civale, and Tommy La Stella doubled for the Mariners.
Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth for his first save, completing a crisp game that took just 2 hours, 4 minutes.
It was the third career start for Civale in Seattle, and his first win. In his previous two he was 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA and had given up four homers.
On a chilly night, pitching dominated. Mariners starter Logan Gilbert nearly matched Civale, striking out seven in six innings and allowing four hits.
Gilbert’s only costly mistake came in the fourth, when Naylor hit Cleveland’s first homer of the season.
Diego Castillo relieved in the seventh and promptly gave up a one-out homer to Giménez, the All-Star second baseman who signed a $106.5 million, seven-year contract on opening day.
Seattle’s best offensive chance came in the eighth, when La Stella hit a one-out double against James Karinchak. J.P. Crawford walked with two outs before Karinchak struck out Rodríguez.
