SEATTLE — Wow!
The Mariners, unable to get a big hit most of the game Saturday night, got two huge ones with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and finally, it was them celebrating after a game against the Boston Red Sox.
Abraham Toro hit a single to tie the score, and Dylan Moore followed with another single and the Mariners rushed the field at T-Mobile Park, and for good reason.
It gave them a 7-6 win over Boston, their first win over the Red Sox in six tries this season, giving the Mariners a chance to win their fifth consecutive series.
Boston took a 6-5 lead in the top of the ninth on a two-out homer by Seattle native Bobby Dalbec.
Just when it looked like the Mariners might suffer another agonizing loss, Toro, who tied the score in the seventh with a double, brought home J.P. Crawford from second with his bloop single and Moore ended it shortly after.
It was the sixth straight time that the Mariners have followed up a loss with a win and they have not lost consecutive games since May 24-25 against Oakland.
The first inning, which took 36 minutes and 62 pitches to complete, was wild from the start.
Crawford, normally sure-handed at shortstop, booted a routine ground ball from leadoff hitter Trevor Story.
Two pitches later, Rafael Devers turned on rookie George Kirby’s 97 mph fastball, sending it into the right-field seats to give Boston a 2-0 while fans were still filing into their seats. The Red Sox added another run before the inning was over on Christian Vazquez’s single, putting the Mariners in an early three-run hole.
The Mariners got some help in the bottom half of the inning when Franchy Cordero couldn’t catch Ty France’s liner to right field with one out. Singles by Julio Rodriguez and Crawford loaded the bases.
A wild pitch brought home France with Seattle’s first run, and a walk to Suarez loaded the bases again. Frazier, who lined out to second base with runners on second and third for the final out of the game in Seattle’s 4-3 loss, hit nearly a carbon copy of that.
But this time, the ball glanced off second baseman Trevor Story’s glove for a run-scoring single that made it 3-2 and kept the bases loaded.
A really big inning seemed possible but Toro popped up on the first pitch he saw and Taylor Trammell struck out after just missing a double down the right-field line by just a couple of feet.
The Mariners took their first lead of the series in the next inning when Julio Rodriguez hit Michael Wacha’s four-seam fastball 406 feet into the left-center field seats for a two-run homer that put Seattle up 4-3.
Mariners blew a good chance in the fourth with France on third base with one out. Rodriguez popped out — one pitch after a 3-0 pitch a few inches high was called a strike — and then France was picked off third.
That missed chance became a bigger deal when Boston retook the lead in the next half inning.
Kirby had retired 10 straight batters until facing Devers with two outs in the fifth inning.
Kirby got ahead of Devers before walking him. J.D. Martinez then made that hurt, homering just over the wall in left field to give Boston a 5-4 lead.
Kirby threw 20 more pitches after he was one strike against Devers from ending the half-inning. That put him at 97 pitches for the game and ended his night, having allowed five runs — three earned — on six hits and one costly walk.
Wacha was gone after 4 1/3 innings after hitting Eugenio Suarez with a pitch. But Adam Frazier hit into a double play on Jake Diekman’s first pitch.
The Mariners had the bases loaded with two outs in the sixth, and with the crowd chanting “Julio,” Rodriguez grounded out against Ryan Brasier, who had just entered the game.
Seattle finally got the big hit it was looking for in the seventh. Crawford led off with a single, but Suarez struck out and Frazier lined out to second.
So it looked again like another opportunity might be wasted, but Toro doubled off the wall against Matt Strahm — who entered the game to face Toro — to score the tying run.
Toro, struggling most of the season, came through again in the ninth, giving Moore the chance to win it, and he did.
-------
