Crawford ties Mariners record with walkoff hit vs Astros

J.P. Crawford came through in the clutch once more for the Seattle Mariners, lining a walkoff RBI single into left-center field with the bases loaded in the ninth inning to beat the Houston Astros 8-7 on Saturday night.

Seattle Mariners 8, Houston Astros 7: Box Score

Crawford’s clutch hit came after the Mariners loaded bases with three walks against Astros right-hander Bryan Abreu. Cole Young worked a five-pitch walk with one out, pinch-hitter Brendan Donovan walked on four pitches in the next at-bat and Leo Rivas followed by taking a close pitch in a 3-2 count to load the bases.

Crawford fell behind 0-2 against Abreu before delivering the hit that sent the Mariners (6-9 record) and T-Mobile Park into a celebration.

It was Crawford’s eight walkoff plate appearance as a Mariner, tying Mitch Haniger for the franchise record.

Crawford also had a two-run single with the bases loaded in the Mariners’ five-run fifth inning that tied the game. The veteran shortstop has been one of baseball’s best hitters with the bases full over his career. He entered Saturday batting .373 with a 1.142 OPS, six homers, seven doubles, two triples and 85 RBIs with the bases loaded.

Crawford’s walkoff came after the Astros threatened to take the lead in the top of the inning against Andrés Muñoz.

Houston loaded the bases with two outs, but the right-hander was able to escape by getting three-time All-Star slugger Yordan Alvarez to fly out to shallow left field. Muñoz was credited with his second win of the season.

Houston jumped out to a 7-2 lead by the fourth inning and chased Mariners starter Luis Castillo after just 3 1/3 innings pitched. But the Mariners were able to get back into the game in the fifth.

After Crawford’s two-run single, Cal Raleigh added a sac fly and Julio Rodríguez tied it with a two-run blast to center field, his first homer of the season.

Raleigh opened the scoring with a line-drive into seats in right field for a two-run home run in the bottom of the first.

Houston answered back quickly in top of the second when former Mariner Taylor Trammell hit a two-out, bases-clearing double off the wall in left-center field to put the Astros up 3-2. Yordan Alvarez hit solo home run and Cam Smith added a two-run single in the third. Isaac Paredes made it 7-2 Astros with an RBI single in the fourth.

Up next

Logan Gilbert (0-2, 5.40 ERA) takes the mound for the Mariners against right-hander Cody Bolton (0-0, 3.68) in the third game of a four-game series Sunday.

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