SEATTLE (AP) — Not only was it Canada Day with “The Big Maple”, Canadian James Paxton on the mound for the Mariners’ 1-0 victory over the Royals, it also was Paxton Bobblehead Day at Safeco Field.

This bobblehead included a bald eagle on his shoulder, a crazy moment that actually happened while working out in the outfield before a game this season in Minnesota. The video went viral.

Paxton allowed only two hits and struck out 11 in eight innings to lead the Mariners to their season-best seventh consecutive victory.

“Paxton enjoyed the moment,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “It was National Pax Day. A holiday in Canada, the bobblehead and the fans were really into it.”

Paxton (8-2) had plenty of family and friends at the game from his hometown of Ladner, British Columbia.

“It was cool to pitch on Canada Day and have the bobblehead,” Paxton said. “It felt good today. The fastball, curveball and cutter all were working.”

Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the ninth for his 32nd save. The Mariners are 26-11 in one-run games this season and 22-0 when Diaz enters the game with a one-run lead.

“As far as being valuable to our team, he has to be the top of the list,” Servais said about Diaz. “He isn’t just getting it done, it’s also the efficiency of how he’s getting it done. When his timing is right, he’s really tough to hit.”

Kansas City rookie Brad Keller (2-3) also was tough to hit. He allowed six hits in eight innings. The only extra-base hit he allowed was a double by Kyle Seager in the seventh inning.

“He’s doing everything you want a starting pitcher to do,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Complete game. He was fantastic. He’s out there attacking with his fastball, slider, throwing strikes and really commanding his pitch count.”

It was the first complete game of Keller’s career.

“After the game a few guys came up and said congratulations,” Keller said. “I’ve never had one before and it’s pretty cool, but it’s frustrating (taking the loss). That’s tough lineup. A lot of good hitters over there. I tried to stay on the attack and not fall behind too much.”

The only run came in the second inning. Ben Gamel dropped a broken-bat single into shallow center to score Seager from second base. Seager singled to right before Ryon Healy singled to center.

That’s all Paxton needed, recording double-figure strikeouts for the seventh time this season. On his 110th pitch, his last of the game to close out the top of the eighth, his fastball was clocked at 99 mph.

“Late in the game he just dialed it up,” Servais said. “Pax emptied the tank and let it rip. He had an overpowering fastball at the end. It’s pretty rare. There are only five to 10 guys in baseball who can do that and we’re lucky to have one of them.”

SEATTLE (AP) — Marco Gonzales pitched a six-hitter for his first career complete game, Mitch Haniger and Mike Zunino homered, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 on Friday night.

Gonzales (8-5) struck out seven and didn’t issue a walk while throwing just 96 pitches. His previous career high was 7 1/3 innings pitched against Tampa Bay earlier this month.

Whit Merrifield singled to lead off the game and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Rosell Herrera. Gonzales picked Merrifield off second base to erase the baserunner and would retire nine straight batters before running into a spot of trouble in the fourth.

Herrera doubled off the glove of left fielder Denard Span with one out. An infield single from Mike Moustakas put runners on the corners, but Gonzales induced an inning-ending double play from Salvador Perez to keep the Royals off the board.

Royals starter Ian Kennedy (1-8) retired the first 10 batters he faced before running into trouble in the fourth. Jean Segura reached on an infield single to give Seattle its first baserunner of the game. Haniger followed with a two-run blast over the center-field wall to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead.

After fouling off three straight pitches with a 2-2 count, Zunino blasted a solo home run two rows from the top of the upper deck in left field to extend the Mariners’ lead to 3-0 in the fifth. Segura added a two-out RBI single in the seventh inning off Brandon Maurer to give Seattle a 4-0 advantage.

Adalberto Mondesi doubled to open the ninth and Moustakas delivered a two-out single to center field to drive home the only run of the game for the Royals.

The Topeka Golden Giants evened up a weekend series with the Junction City Brigade at Rathert Field at one game apiece with a 10-5 win over the Brigade Friday night.

The Golden Giants opened up a 5-1 lead in the fourth inning and never trailed in the ballgame. Nathan Miller pitched six innings and got the pitching victory.

For Junction City first baseman Will Jordan went three for five at the plate with three singles, while shortstop Carson Sader was two for five with a single and a ninth-inning home run.

The teams close out the series Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at Rathert Field.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Freddy Peralta pitched one-hit ball over seven scoreless innings, Jesus Aguilar hit one of Milwaukee’s three homers and the Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1. Peralta allowed a leadoff double in the third to Adalberto Mondesi and also allowed a walk in the second. The 22-year-old rookie was perfect otherwise, striking out 10 in his fourth major league start.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Freddy Peralta is making it difficult for the Milwaukee Brewers to remove him from the rotation. Maybe they won’t.

Peralta pitched one-hit ball over seven scoreless innings, Jesus Aguilar hit one of Milwaukee’s three homers and the Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Peralta (3-0) allowed a leadoff double in the third to Adalberto Mondesi and also a walk in the second. The 22-year-old rookie was perfect otherwise, striking out 10 in his fourth major league start.

“He was wonderful,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “The big thing to me, again, was just how he pounded the strike zone. That’s the common theme to me, is that if he’s not issuing free passes, he’s going to be tough. He did that tonight, just all over the strike zone.”

Aguilar, Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun homered off starter Jakob Junis (5-9), who has lost six straight.

Mondesi, called up June 17, hit his first homer this season with two outs in the eighth off Dan Jennings. Jacob Barnes got two outs in the ninth and Josh Hader retired one batter for his seventh save.

Peralta has not allowed a run in 13 innings, giving up three hits in two starts since being recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs on June 19 when starter Zach Davies went on the disabled list.

“That hasn’t been a conversation,” Counsell said when asked about the rotation. “He’s pitching well. If you keep pitching like that, it’s going to lead to more starts, for sure.”

Peralta was called up in May and allowed one hit in 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his debut, striking out 13 in a 7-3 win over Colorado. He gave up four runs in four innings without a decision in his second start, and then was sent down.

After three starts on the road, Peralta was pitching for the first time at Miller Park.

“I was waiting for this day to pitch in the Brewers stadium,” Peralta said. “A lot of fans were waiting for this day, too. I’m really happy for this. I did the best job I could and it was awesome for me.”

Junis, who has not won since May 18, surrendered five runs, seven hits and three walks in five innings.

“I’m giving up a lot of runs on home runs,” said Junis, who has allowed three or more homers five times this season. “If I keep it in the yard, I’d have a lot better chance of keeping some runs off the board. But, just a couple pitches that I’m leaving over the plate are getting handled.”

Yelich staked the Brewers to a 2-0 lead in the first with his 11th home run, sending a 3-0 pitch over the wall in left after a one-out double by Braun. Aguilar made it 3-0 with his team-leading 17th homer, a two-out solo shot to center in the third.

The Brewers extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth when Eric Thames singled and Braun followed with his ninth home run and first since June 8.

Kansas City threatened in the second when Mondesi opened with a double to right. Junis bunted, but Aguilar charged from first, made a barehanded pickup and got Mondesi at third.

The Royals fell to 4-19 in the month of June, scoring just 48 runs in that span. They have scored one run or less in 18 games this season.

“We’re all frustrated,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never been a part of a month like this. An offensive drought like we’ve had all month long is pretty puzzling. There’s no answer for it I’ve never been through anything like this.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Brewers: CF Lorenzo Cain was placed on the 10-day DL (left groin strain) and OF Keon Broxton was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs. … LHP Boone Logan was released. … 3B Travis Shaw, who left Sunday’s game against St. Louis in the middle of his first at-bat, was not in the lineup and is day-to-day.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (3-7, 5.18) starts the series finale Wednesday at Miller Park. After beginning the season 1-6 with a 6.88 ERA, he is 2-1 with a 2.87 ERA in his last six starts.

Brewers: LHP Brent Suter (8-4, 4.15) is 6-1 with a 3.12 ERA over his last seven starts. After no quality starts in his first 14, Suter has pitched seven innings in each of his last two, allowing one and two runs, respectively.

The Junction City Brigade at the Midwest A’s baseball game that was scheduled Tuesday evening has been cancelled due to rain. The announcement was made on the A’s twitter page.

It marks the second night in a row a game between the two teams has been cancelled. Rathert Field in Junction City was too wet on Monday night for the two teams to play as well.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State offensive lineman Dalton Risner has been chosen as the 2017-18 Big 12 Male Sportsperson of the Year, the conference office announced Tuesday.

He is the third Wildcat overall and first male to win the award, which was established in 2000-01 to annually recognize student-athletes who display an extraordinary degree of sportsmanship, community service and academic achievement. The other former K-State winners were women’s basketball player Kim Woodlee (2000-01) and women’s golfer Whitney Pyle (2012-13).

A product of Wiggins, Colorado, Risner is one of the top returning offensive linemen in the nation who put together an All-American campaign in 2017. Named a First Team All-American by Pro Football Focus and a second-teamer by CBSSports.com, Risner graded out at a 90.3 mark during the regular season according to Pro Football Focus. His blocking efficiency including a 98.9 mark on pass blocking to tie for the fourth highest among FBS tackles as he only allowed three quarterback pressures according to PFF.

Risner, a two-time team captain, helped lead the 2017 Wildcats to a tie for third place in school history in rushing yards per carry (4.98), while they ranked seventh in program history with 2,584 total rushing yards.

Despite being a tough, physical player on the field, Risner has a caring side away from football as he has taken upon himself to be involved in numerous community-service activities and spend time with those in need.

Risner started the RiseUp Foundation, which has started in both a blog and v-log form to “encourage everyone to RISE above the evil and sin in this world and be a positive shining light in the lives of others.” The ultimate goal for the foundation is to motivate people through his words and actions, through his stories and his relationships.

He also visits Buttonwood Special Needs Home and has bonded with one member in particular, Mike, by going to movies, bowling and hanging out about once per week. Risner goes to the house to spend time for a while before taking Mike to places around town to spend time together.

Similarly, Risner is a Big Brother to a kid named Kaden, who is battling leukemia. After originally meeting in April, Risner and Kaden have spent time together on multiple occasions, including a family barbeque, while Risner brought Kaden and his siblings Easter baskets.

Risner also takes the time to write notes and send football memorabilia to people – both young and old – who are going through difficult times. One example is a kid name Wyatt in Arizona, who is nearly deaf and gets bullied at school. Dalton took the time to send him a message and autograph items, while Wyatt was a guest of Risner’s during one of K-State’s practices in Arizona while preparing for the Cactus Bowl.

Although he takes the time on his own to participate in community service, Risner also does work through the K-State football team’s initiatives, including Special Olympics, Senior Kats (spending time at all four local retirement communities), Cats in the Classroom (volunteering at local elementary schools), Cats 4 Cans (collection of food items for the Flint Hills Breadbasket) and Adopt-a-Family.

– k-statesports.com –

RYAN LACKEY
Director of Football and Golf Communications | K-State Athletics