It was a dramatic night for the Mariners as they got the better of the Rangers again, courtesy of a walk-off sacrifice fly by Carlos Santana.
As much as a ball club shouldn’t rely on one player to provide a spark, there’s no denying Julio Rodriguez does just that for the Mariners. And he did it once again on Tuesday night, in his first game back after missing time with a wrist injury.
Rodriguez took almost no time at all to mark his return to action, with a home run blast in the bottom of the first inning. It represented the second lead-off home run of his rookie season.
It would be the 21-year-old’s only hit on the night, but it still provided the impetus for the Mariners to eventually win the game — and the series — versus the Rangers. The youngster now has 17 home runs and 53 RBI on the season.
Rodriguez spoke about his highlight after the game. As per Daniel Kramer of mlb.com, he said:
“I said literally just that before the game, I basically said, ‘Man, if I hit a home run right now, it’s going to be really funny, and I’m honestly just going to laugh around the bases. And then when it happened, I was like, ‘Wow. It actually happened.’”
While the budding superstar set the Mariners on their way, it was Carlos Santana who eventually sealed the dramatic 5-4 win. He got his chance, after the Rangers decided to intentionally walk Rodriguez and fellow All-Star Ty France in the bottom of the ninth.
Santana stepped up to the challenge, by hitting a walk-off sacrifice fly which brought Cal Raleigh home. There was a delay as the Rangers challenged Raleigh’s tag from third and the play at home plate, but replays confirmed the original calls were correct and it was game over.
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It concluded what was also an excellent inning for Raleigh, who had tied the game at 4-4 with a double which brought J.P. Crawford home. In total, the catcher had a couple of hits and two RBI in his four at-bats on the night.
Part of Raleigh’s approach includes appreciating the game and enjoying it. Speaking to the media afterwards, he said:
“(I’m) just seeing everything through a different perspective. There could be a lot of worse things we could be doing right now than playing baseball at this level every single day. It’s a blessing. It’s a game, so I come out every day and have fun and enjoy it, because it’s not going to last forever.”
Another significant reason behind the Mariners’ win, was an outstanding effort from George Kirby. In fact it was arguably his best outing of the year, with a season-low two hits to go along with no earned runs.
Recalled earlier on Tuesday from Triple-A Tacoma, Kirby was put on a strict pitch count. In this respect he was extremely efficient, as he needed only 51 pitches to get through his five innings.
Making this even more remarkable, was the fact Kirby walked the first batter he faced on the night. Talking about this to the media — along with his pitch count — he said:
“I like to attack the bat, (but) when I do walk someone it fires me up a little bit better my next few pitches … I actually didn’t know (what my pitch count was), but out there, I just try to treat it like a normal game and try to do my thing.”
After Kirby exited the game, the usually reliable bullpen had one of its worse collective efforts of the season. In total, they allowed five hits, four earned runs and three walks in four innings.
In fairness to the relievers, everyone has a bad day at the office from time to time. Following Tuesday’s game, the bullpen is still ranked first in the Majors in WHIP and third in batting average (as well as seventh in ERA).
Manager Scott Servais acknowledged it was a scrappy game on the night, but made no apologies (and why would he). He said:
“Not the cleanest or prettiest win, but it’s a win and they all count. Finding different ways to win every night, it is (sometimes) an adventure and tonight it certainly was.”
With the win, the Mariners are now 10-2 on the season versus the Rangers. They will aim for the series sweep on Wednesday afternoon, when Marco Gonzales faces Jon Gray.
What stood our for you most on Tuesday night? Do you now expect the Mariners to complete the series sweep? Let us know in the comments section below.
