ARLINGTON, Texas — In this stadium that is the definition of the modern major league ballpark with two massive multiple video screens, a sound system that can be heard on the moon and a retractable roof, usually closed to keep the sweltering summer heat out and keep the din from a crowd, the 33,463 fans were given an ending to reward their faith.
Jonah Heim, a well-traveled, switch-hitting catcher for his 26 years of age, having been traded three times and now in his fifth organization, hit a home run from each side of the plate, but it was his blast from the left side that particularly painful for the Mariners.
Leading off the bottom of the 10th with his team trailing by a run and the mandatory runner starting on second, Heim fell behind 0-2 to new Mariners closer Diego Castillo. But after battling back to even the count at 2-2, Castillo tossed up a 91-mph pitch that spun like slider but didn’t break like one, staying right down the middle of the plate. Heim demolished the mistake, sending it into the Rangers’ bullpen for a walk-off two-run homer and 5-4 win.
A team that came into the game 21 games below .500, making a bullpen start because their best pitcher Kyle Gibson, who was supposed to start on Saturday, was traded and their best hitter is now wearing Yankees gear, handed the Mariners a crushing loss in a game they needed to win.
In a season with 162 games, it’s difficult to define a game as must-win on the last day of July with 57 left to play. But with a three-game series against the Rays followed by a four-game series against the Yankees looming on this road trip, giving away a win to the team with the second-worst record in baseball is sub-optimal.
J.P. Crawford, the emotional pulse of this surprisingly successful team, didn’t need them on Saturday night. Down 0-2 after swinging through a pair of mid 90s fastballs from Rangers right-hander Spencer Patton and looking less than comfortable in doing so, Crawford stepped out of the batter’s box, bent over, took a deep breath, and then another before stepping back into the box. This time that elevated fastball wasn’t going to beat him.
Crawford got on top of a 94-mph fastball from Patton, punching it through the left side of the infield in the top of the 10th inning, giving the Mariners their final lead.
Ty France forced extra innings with his solo homer in the top of the ninth tie the game at 3-3.
Making his debut for the Mariners and pitching for the first time since July 20, Tyler Anderson looked solid despite the 11-day layoff. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
He cruised through the first three innings, not allowing a baserunner, with a pair of strikeouts and showing a mixture of array of pitches.
His new teammates even provided him with some early run support vs. Hearn. Thanks to a replay review that went the Mariners' way. France appeared to hit into an inning-ending double play with a groundball to third baseman Charlie Culberson. Second baseman Andy Ibanez didn’t maintain contact with the second base bag on Culberson’s throw and his subsequent throw to first. Haniger was ruled safe.
The free out brought Kyle Seager to the plate, and he made it hurt for Hearn and the Rangers. Seager hammered a 2-2 breaking ball left over the middle of the plate, sending his 22nd homer into the right-field seats for a 2-0 lead.
But that was all the run support Anderson would get in his outing.
After he finally allowed his first hit, a single to Rangers leadoff hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa to start the fourth inning, Anderson coolly worked his way out of the jam despite a sac bunt and a passed ball from Cal Raleigh moving the runner to third with one out. He got a big strikeout of Adolis Garcia and then got a weak lineout from Nathaniel Lowe to end the inning and strand the runner at third.
But he couldn’t keep the Rangers scoreless in the fifth. He allowed a leadoff single to Ibanez and then watched in disbelief as Heim golfed a low fastball on a 3-2 count over the wall in deep left-center for his sixth homer of the season, tying the game at 2-2.
