SEATTLE — The finale they wanted for most of the sun-drenched Sunday afternoon came to fruition about 90 minutes later than they expected as a layer of dark clouds rolled over T-Mobile Park, removing the brightness and more than a few fans fatigued from the day.
But in the bottom of the 12th inning, Jesse Winker ended the marathon he helped prolong in the 10th inning.
The left-handed hitting outfielder, who watched has line drives were snagged and deep blasts caught at the wall, dumped a broken-bat single into right field, scoring Adam Frazier from second base and giving the Mariners a 5-4 win over the Royals.
The Mariners completed the three-game series over Kansas City and finished the first homestand of the season a 7-2 record.
Given a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Drew Steckenrider left a 93-mph fastball over the middle of the plate. The mistake wasn’t missed by Hunter Dozier, who hammered it over the wall in center field for game-tying solo homer. The Mariners couldn’t muster a run in the bottom of the ninth and ventured into extra innings for the first time this season.
The Mariners jumped out to a 2-0 lead two batters into the game.
Leadoff hitter Adam Frazier greeted Kansas City starter Carlos Hernandez with a crisp single up the middle. It brought to the plate first baseman Ty France, who less than 12 hours earlier punctuated a 5-for-5 night with a three-run homer.
On the second pitch he saw from Hernandez, a slider that stayed on the inside half of the plate, France made it hits in six straight plate appearances and homers in back-to-back plate appearances, sending a screaming line drive that stayed just inside the left field foul pole over the wall for a two-run blast. It was France’s team-high fifth homer of the season and his 19 RBI this season are the second most in Major League Baseball.
The Mariners got a solid start from left-hander Robbie Ray, who pitched six innings, allowing two runs on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts. He threw 94 pitches with 56 strikes. He is the only pitcher to work at least six innings in four-plus starts this season.
Ray couldn’t quite make the two-run lead stand. The Royals got to him in the third inning. He issued a leadoff walk to No. 8 hitter Michael A. Taylor and gave up double off the wall in left-center to Cam Gallagher. With the ball bouncing away from Winker, Taylor was able to score from first with ease. Later with two outs, Mariners nemesis Salvador Perez tied the game with a double into the left-field corner.
The Mariners put Ray back in line for the win in the bottom of the sixth. Eugenio Suarez bounced a ground-rule double over the wall in left and scored when J.P. Crawford’s line drive to left-center rolled all the way to the wall.
The Mariners middle relievers made the one-run lead hold up. Matt Festa worked a scoreless seventh inning despite a leadoff walk, Erik Swanson had a 1-2-3 eighth inning that featured a swinging strikeout of Perez.
