HOUSTON — Win of the year?
Well, to this point in the 2022 season, it might be.
If the Mariners make the postseason, which becomes a greater possibility with each passing game, their 5-4 victory on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park, a place they rarely win, will long be remembered as a magical moment in the journey.
With two outs and runners on second and third and the Mariners trailing by one run, Mariners manager Scott Servais called on Abraham Toro to pinch hit for Julio Rodriguez to avoid a sixth straight loss to the Houston Astros.
Wait, Abraham Toro for Julio Rodriguez?
Servais had no choice but to make the move after Rodriguez was struck by a 97-mph fastball in the right wrist on a swing in his previous at-bat.
Traded from Houston to the Mariners a year ago this week in a deal that was filled with fan and acrimony and struggling to find any sort of traction at the plate this season, Toro kept it simple against Houston closer Ryan Pressly — swing early and swing at a strike.
He jumped on the first pitch from Pressly, pulling a line drive into left field that scored both runs.
With Rodriguez out and Dylan Moore having exited the game earlier due to back spasms and no bench players from the top of the ninth, a pieced together defense with Ty France at second base, Toro in right field and Adam Frazier in center, Paul Sewald closed out the ninth with two fly balls and a ground out to France.
The Mariners snapped a five-game losing streak against the Astros and can salvage a split of the four-game series with a win on Sunday in the final meeting of the two teams in the regular season.
