SEATTLE MARINERS

Shed Long Jr., Kyle Seager lift Mariners to 6-5 walkoff win over Rays

Jun 17, 2021, 11:12 PM | Updated: Jun 20, 2021, 6:40 pm

SEATTLE (AP) — Shed Long Jr. hit a tying double in the bottom of the ninth inning and pinch-hitter Kyle Seager singled home the winning run to rally the Seattle Mariners past the Tampa Bay Rays 6-5 on Thursday night.

Mariners 6, Rays 5: Box score

Seattle lost starter Justin Dunn to a sore right shoulder after two innings, but came from behind with the help of a two-run homer by Ty France and a solo shot from Luis Torrens.

Dylan Moore drew a four-pitch walk from reliever Pete Fairbanks (1-2) to start the ninth. Jake Bauers singled and Long tied it 5-all with his second double of the game.

Seager batted for Taylor Trammell and singled through the right side of a drawn-in infield to score Bauers from third.

“I wasn’t prepared for it,” Seager joked about his chance to hit. “I was watching the game.”

Seattle manager Scott Servais said Seager, the team’s regular third baseman, was supposed to be shut down for the day. But he told him to be ready with the Mariners trailing 5-4 in the top of the ninth inning.

“When it gets to that point in the game and you’ve only got one bullet to shoot, you might as well shoot it,” Servais said.

Hector Santiago (1-1) struck out three in a hitless inning for the win.

Seattle has won four of five. The Rays are 24-8 in their last 32 games, with the eight losses coming by a total of 12 runs. Five were by one run.

Randy Arozarena hit his 10th home run off Mariners reliever JT Chargois after Ji-Man Choi’s leadoff single in the fourth. Brett Phillips drew a walk, stole second and scored on Brandon Lowe’s single to make it 3-1 in the fifth.

Joey Wendle and Kevin Kiermaier added RBI singles in the sixth to help build a 5-2 lead.

It was the second loss in two days for Fairbanks, who gave up the winning hit Wednesday night in the 10th inning of an 8-7 defeat to the Chicago White Sox. The Rays have dropped three in a row, shaving their AL East lead to a half-game over Boston.

“We’ve got a good team,” an angry Fairbanks said. “As long as I don’t blow it when we take leads into the ninth, when I’ve got that opportunity, we’ll be fine.”

DUNN UPDATE

Dunn said after the game that he started experiencing discomfort in his pitching shoulder during warmups. The right-hander looked strong through two innings, with a strikeout against one hit, but experienced increased discomfort and felt he couldn’t return for the third. Dunn spent time on the 10-day injured list earlier this month, returning to the team on June 10.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rays: RHP Tyler Glasnow (right elbow strain) has been moved to the 60-day injured list and left the team following Wednesday’s game at the Chicago White Sox to see a specialist in Dallas on Friday. Glasnow blamed the injury on the coming crackdown on illegal foreign substances, forcing him to grip the ball differently than he normally would.

Mariners: Evan White reinjured his strained right hip flexor in a rehab game at Triple-A Tacoma and has returned to Seattle. Manager Scott Servais hopes the setback won’t cost the Gold Glove first baseman more than four or five days. White reinjured himself while running to first.

UP NEXT

Rays: RHP Michael Wacha (1-1, 4.54 ERA) has not pitched more than three innings since returning from the injured list on May 23.

Mariners: LHP Yusei Kikuchi (3-3, 3.67) returns to the mound after pitching seven shutout innings in his last start.

Dipoto: J.P. Crawford evolving into more than Mariners were hoping for

Mariners Roof Report

Brought to you by
Mostly Cloudy then Chance Light Rain
High 57° | Low 46°
Mariners are on the road.
Mariners at Rangers today at 5:05pm

Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners beat Texas Rangers 4-0...

The Associated Press

Gilbert stellar, Julio hits 1st HR as Mariners top Rangers 4-0

Logan Gilbert's 6 2/3 shutout innings helped the Seattle Mariners set a new franchise-best pitching mark as they blanked Texas 4-0.

12 hours ago

Seattle Mariners Julio Rodrituez...

Zac Hereth

Watch: Seattle Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez blasts 1st HR of season

Seattle Mariners star center fielder Julio Rodríguez ends power outage with a 445-foot home run off Texas Rangers starter Dane Dunning.

13 hours ago

Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh...

Zac Hereth

Seattle Mariners catcher one of MLB’s ‘most underrated players’

Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh wasn't on one publication's list of top 10 catchers before the MLB season. He's proving he should've been included.

18 hours ago

Seattle Mariners Julio Rodríguez...

Brent Stecker

Defense of Mariners’ Julio Rodríguez in CF is ‘off the charts’

"I did not think Julio Rodríguez was going to be in the conversation for being the best defensive center fielder in baseball," ESPN's Jeff Passan said.

22 hours ago

Seattle Mariners Bryce Miller Cubs 2024...

Cameron Van Til

Passan: Why Mariners didn’t trade their young pitchers

ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan explained why the Seattle Mariners likely won't ever get proper trade value for their talented, young pitchers.

2 days ago

Seattle Mariners Cal Raleigh Josh Rojas Jonatan Clase Mitch Garver...

Shannon Drayer

Drayer: Mariners break down keys to their turnaround on offense

The Seattle Mariners have won two straight series, and an offensive turnaround has been a big part of it. Shannon Drayer has the story.

2 days ago

Shed Long Jr., Kyle Seager lift Mariners to 6-5 walkoff win over Rays