M’s in 1st place in AL West after another walkoff win

Perhaps the Etsy Witch’s magic is real.

An unlikely hero rose to the occasion in extra innings for the Seattle Mariners once again, as rookie Harry Ford hit a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning to lift the Mariners past the Angels 7-6 Thursday night for their second straight extra-innings walkoff.

As a result, Seattle (79-68 record) is now tied atop the division with the Houston Astros, who lost 6-0 to the Blue Jays earlier in the day.

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The Mariners odds of reaching the playoffs are up to 92.2%, per FanGraphs. They also hold an 57.3% chance to win the division. Houston’s odds of winning the division are 38.2%.

The M’s last held first place on Aug. 12 (also tied with Houston), but had been in second since the following day. They had spent 50 days in first place this season entering Thursday, yet only one since losing their division lead June 3. Seattle hasn’t held first in the AL West outright since June 2.

Seattle’s move to the top of division marks the latest its held a division lead since winning the AL West during its record-tying 116-win season.

The victory also helped the M’s move to two games in front of the Texas Rangers for the final AL wild card berth.

Jorge Polanco led off the 12th with an RBI double. After an intentional walk to Eugenio Suárez and bunt single from Victor Robles, Ford stepped up to the plate as a pinch-hitter and hit a flyball to right field on the first pitch he saw to win the game.

José Castillo pitched the 12th to earn the win.

J.P. Crawford hit a two-run double, and Julio Rodríguez drove Crawford and Randy Arozarena home with another double to put the Mariners up 4-0 in the fourth inning.

Logan Davidson hit a solo home run in the third, and Chris Taylor and Luis Rengifo drove in runs in the fourth to help the Angels claw back. Mike Trout’s solo home run in the fifth tie the game at 4-4.

Taylor Ward hit an RBI single in the top of the 11th for the Angels, and Crawford answered back with an RBI single in the bottom half to send the game to the 12th. Matthew Lugo added an RBI single in the top of the 12th.

Mariners starter Bryce Miller struck out a career-high 11 while allowing four runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings.

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