SEATTLE_On their official fan appreciation night, the Seattle Mariners provided plenty of hits, runs and offense that, well, would have been vastly more appreciated in July and August when scoring two runs seemed like a painstaking ordeal and they still had something more to play for than pride.
In their 160th game of the season, the Mariners scored seven runs in the second inning _ aided greatly by a ghastly error by Texas right fielder Nomar Mazara _ and rolled to a 12-6 victory over the Rangers on Friday night at Safeco Field.
And in another show of appreciation, the Mariners gave the announced crowd of 23,598 their longest nine-inning game of the season, lasting 3 hours and 47 minutes. It was quite the buildup before the last fireworks show of the season.
The game wasn't particularly crisp from either team. But with two eliminated teams playing a meaningless game, it's easy to have an eye on the offseason.
There was no better example of it than in the second inning. Rangers starter Martin Perez, who had been demoted to the bullpen and reinserted into the rotation in the span of about a month, pitched in probably his last game in a Rangers uniform and it was pretty forgettable.
The erratic lefty walked the bases loaded with one out and gave up an RBI single to Cameron Maybin. With two outs, Mitch Haniger worked a 10-pitch walk, which included fouling off four straight pitches with two strikes, to force another run across. Perez's fifth walk in the inning ended his outing. His replacement, right-hander Jeffrey Springs, fared no better.
With the bases still loaded, the inning imploded for the Rangers when Jean Segura hit a deep fly ball to right field. Mazara, the talented Texas right fielder, drifted back on the ball, reading it the whole way and then he just didn't catch it. He dropped the routine fly ball and all three runners scored while Segura ambled into second base for a 5-0 lead. A three-run error doesn't help you win many games. And when Robinson Cano followed with an RBI single and Nelson Cruz laced a run-scoring double, the lead was pushed to 7-0.
Five of those seven runs were unearned.
Seattle pushed the lead to 9-0 in the third inning on an RBI double from Maybin and a run-scoring single from Cano.
But all that run support for starter Wade LeBlanc was needed.
Making his final start of an unexpectedly good 2018 season, LeBlanc used the run support to his advantage, fighting to get through five innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts to get the win.
After working the first three innings scoreless, LeBlanc seemed to lose his command and rhythm. A leadoff walk to start the fourth inning wasn't typical and it was followed by back-to-back RBI doubles from Adrian Beltre and Mazara. Robinson Chirinos capped off the inning with a two-run homer.
The Rangers picked up two more runs in the fifth off LeBlanc, but he got through the five innings needed to get credit for the win.
He finished the season with a 9-5 record and 3.85 ERA in 27 starts and five relief appearances. Inserted into the starting rotation on May 3 when Erasmo Ramirez went back on the disabled list with another shoulder issues, LeBlanc not only kept his spot, but he got one for next year, pitching his way into a contract extension guaranteed for the 2019 season and club options for two years after that.
It's quite an accomplishment for a guy who has spent the latter part of his professional career not knowing where his next job would be from season to season and at what level. But a previous successful stint with the Mariners as a long reliever/ spot starter in 2016 was beneficial when the Mariners re-acquired him again just before the end of spring training to serve in a similar role.
