A loss meant losing ground, and the Mariners simply don’t have enough games remaining to take the chances of letting someone else take it from them.
On a night when they had to win to keep pace as the interlopers in the American League wild-card race, they did so in the manner that has won them more games than anyone expected or believed possible in the first months of the season — quality starting pitching, solid bullpen work and piecing together just enough offense provided competitive at-bats and clutch hits late in the game.
With a raucous crowd of 17,366 standing in anticipation, Drew Steckenrider closed out a 4-2 victory over the Oakland A’s. It allowed Seattle to remain a half game out of the second wild card spot with the Red Sox and Blue Jays both winning earlier Wednesday night.
It was yet another shrug off to the proponents to run differential and predictive analytics.
This team believes in themselves more than the numbers used in those formulas. They believe in one measure: win-loss record.
With an 89-70 record, they have three games left to play in what should be the biggest final series in Seattle since 2014. And unlike that year when they were backing into contention, they are charging into it.
A clutch hit from JP Crawford and a sac fly in the seventh inning gave them a lead they wouldn’t lose and Abraham Toro provided a bit of insurance with a solo homer in the eighth.
Logan Gilbert, the lanky rookie pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Using his mid 90s fastball predominantly, Gilbert worked through the first five innings scoreless, allowing just two base runners — a leadoff single to Mark Canha to start the second inning and a one-out walk to Matt Chapman in the fifth. Gilbert extinguished both of those threats with relative ease.
With Gilbert looking strong and only at 75 pitches, Servais sent him out of the sixth. His only run allowed came when he left a 2-2 fastball to Tony Kemp down the middle. It was turned into a solo homer into right field and a 1-0 lead. Gilbert retired the next two batters but a walk to Mark Canha ended his outing. Joe Smith entered the game and needed three pitches to get Josh Harrison to line out to center to end the inning.
Having trailed in each of their last three games — all victories — the Mariners’ offense came to life once the A’s had a lead.
Meanwhile, Oakland’s defense offered an inning that could only be labeled as vomiting on itself in the bottom of the sixth much to the dismay of their starter Frankie Montas, who has carved up the Mariners hitters for five shutout innings.
An infield pop-up from France to start the inning was misjudged and dropped by second baseman Tony Kemp. With one out, Mitch Haniger’s ground ball to shortstop Josh Harrison didn’t result in the routine double play or an out. He dropped the ball as he went to underhand flip it to Kemp and then kicked to the base. Kemp made a nice play to stretch and grab the ball for the force play. Second base umpire Ted Barrett originally called France out at second on the play. But a very brief replay review had the call overturned.
It brought to the plate young rookie Jarred Kelenic. Clearly irritated from the fielding fiasco, Montas grew more frustrated when his first pitch in the strike zone was called a ball by home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor. Kelenic worked the count to 2-0 and then sat on a 96 mph sinker almost identical to the first pitch at the top of the strike zone. He sent a missile into the gap in right-center that is a home run on almost any day when the temps are above 60 degrees. Instead, it hit off the wall for a double that scored both runners, giving Seattle a 2-1 lead, turning T-Mobile into bedlam and leaving Kelenic in a fist-pumping hysteria at second base.
The cheers were silenced momentarily in the top of the seventh. With Casey Sadler unavailable for usage, Servais turned to Diego Castillo to hold the one-run lead. The burly right-hander had been outstanding since returning from the injured list.
But for just the third time in 13 appearances, he allowed a run, and it was costly. With two outs, Seth Brown jumped on a 2-2 sinker that leaked back into his wheelhouse, sending a solo blast into the right field seats to tie the game at 2-2.
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