CLEVELAND — One out away from closing out a yet another hard-fought victory over a team with similar postseason ambitions, one play away from earning a three-game sweep in their first road series and one catch away from offering a solid retort to any early doubt from a less-than-stellar homestand, the Mariners, specifically Teoscar Hernandez, had it all within their grasp.
Hernandez couldn’t quite hang on to what should’ve been the final out of the game, a leaping attempt just before the ball bounced off his glove onto the warning track to allow both runners to score and tie the game at 3.
That missed play would lead to three extra innings of chaos, including the Mariners blowing three more save situations, the final one coming in the bottom of the 12th when Josh Bell’s soft ground ball allowed Amed Rosario to slide in just before Kolten Wong’s wayward throw from second base for a 7-6 victory.
The Mariners had leads going into the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th and couldn’t close it out.
Manager Scott Servais likes to say it’s difficult to sweep a team on the road. Sunday’s loss offered an example of that oft-used mantra. But the Mariners didn’t do anything to help themselves close out the win, including Penn Murfee throwing away a pickoff move to second in the 12th that allowed the runners to move into scoring position.
The Mariners got an outstanding start from right-hander George Kirby in his second outing of the season.
Kirby pitched six strong innings, allowing one run on five hits with no walks — of course not — and four strikeouts to improve to 1-0.
The Mariners grabbed an early 2-0 lead off Cleveland starter Zach Plesac in the first inning. Ty France singled to center and watched as Cal Raleigh blasted his first homer through the cold wind coming off Lake Erie and into the right field seats.
But it was all that the Mariners would get off Plesac despite hitting plenty of hard balls off him, including one literally.
In the fourth inning, Hernandez lit a 107-mph line drive back at the mound that struck Plesac in the shoulder and ricocheted to second baseman Andres Gimenez, who fired to first base for the out. Plesac would allow just two more base runners after that as he pitched seven complete innings, allowing five total hits with a walk and six strikeouts.
After getting the 2-0 lead, Kirby gave up a leadoff triple to Steven Kwan, who scored on Jose Ramirez’s sacrifice fly to center to make it 2-1.
Kirby made the one-run lead hold up for the rest of his outing. The only time Cleveland seriously threatened against him came in the sixth inning. Kwan led off with a single and Ramirez blooped a double into shallow left field just out of the reach of a diving J.P. Crawford. Unsure if a catch would be made, Kwan could only advance to third and not score. He wouldn’t leave third base. Kirby came back to strike out Josh Naylor and ended the inning by ripping an elevated 95-mph fastball by Gimenez for a swinging strike three.
Kirby let out a scream, pumped his fist like a golfer making a putt at The Masters and strutted off the mound toward an applauding Mariners dugout.
