Mitch Haniger's mash saved them, then Jean Segura in another extra-innings Mariners walk-off

Jean Segura turned around and performed about six jumping jacks between second and third base as the ball carried high above left field. He pumped his arms, as if it might push the ball a few more feet.

How Mitch Haniger obliterated that pitch – it didn’t need Segura’s help.

Haniger had the Seattle Mariners’ lone hit through eight innings and then that two-run, game-tying home run that sent Safeco Field into an uproar in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Two innings later, Segura launched his batting helmet into the air near second base in jubilation after his walk-off rope down the right-field line scored Dee Gordon, who had just stolen second base despite a toe injury.

That completed the Mariners’ 3-2 comeback victory against Detroit in the 11th inning of a game they seemed to have little business winning through the first eight innings.

"The heart this club has is pretty, pretty impressive," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "These guys — they just keep battling through adversity, one thing after another."

The Mariners had six hits – four of them from Segura and Haniger, the Nos. 2 and 3 hitters the Mariners acquired in a trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks before the 2016 season.

Apparently it didn’t matter much what the Seattle Mariners’ lineup looked like.

They didn't start Nelson Cruz, Mike Zunino or Ben Gamel, and were already without Robinson Cano, hit with an 80-game drug suspension this week.

“Everyone is just pulling together for each other,” Haniger said. “And with our lineup we’re never out of a game. I don’t care what the score is. Two runs, we feel like we can get that on one swing. Just stay focused and get runs whatever way we can and in whatever innings we can.”

The Mariners melted in the eighth inning of Thursday’s loss to the Tigers, and since then rallied from a four-run deficit on Friday, got James Paxton’s complete-game Saturday and then Sunday’s rally despite not having a hit until one out in the seventh inning.

Then the ninth.

Tigers closer Shane Greene had Haniger at 0-2 before placing a slider right down the middle of the plate.

Mitch mashed.

He crushed it 415 feet over the left-field wall for the two-run home run, just after Segura reached on an infield single.

The Mariners (27-19) have won three consecutive and are now eight games above .500 for the first time this season. The team has Monday off before starting a three-game series in Oakland on Tuesday.

Haniger remains clutch. Nine of his 11 home runs this year have come in the seventh inning or later – most in the American League. And Haniger was due. He hit 10 home runs in March and April but hadn’t hit one since April 29.

“As soon as I got on base I knew it was a good opportunity,” Segura said. “Mitch can go deep any time, any moment.”

And how about their pitching?

The Mariners saw 10 consecutive scoreless innings pitched from Wade LeBlanc, Ryan Cook, James Pazos, Dan Altavilla, Juan Nicasio, Edwin Diaz and Nick Vincent.

"Some late heroics offensively, but really the story of the ball game is our bullpen," Servais said. "Every one of those guys threw the ball really, really well and everyone was available today thanks to Paxton's big start."

But before all of that Liriano, the journeyman 34-year-old left-hander, looked like his All-Star form of 12 years and almost his no-hitter form of seven years ago.

Liriano allowed one hit and no runs in eight innings – the first time he’s had a start like that since 2015 when he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

And this was after Liriano had allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings his previous start. And he lasted just four innings his start before that.

And no team in the major leagues had hit left-handed pitcher as well as the Mariners entering this game – .281 with a lefty-heavy lineup.

Not this day. Not until he left for the ninth.

But how about the Mariners’ starter?

If you were expecting Wade LeBlanc to let up, he has yet to do so.

The 33-year-old lefty, who is in his second stint with the Mariners, allowed a two-run home run to former Mariner John Hicks with two outs in the first inning. So the LeBlanc let-up was quite in play.

He had allowed just one run in his first 15 2/3 innings pitched since entering the Mariners rotation prior to that 426-foot, 110-mph exit velocity of a bomb that Hicks jacked over the bullpen past the left field wall.

Then a groove.

LeBlanc allowed seven hits, but navigated his way through 5 1/3 innings allowing just the two runs with five strikeouts.

Since entering the starting rotation after converting from the Mariners bullpen – all when right-hander Erasmo Ramirez headed to the disabled list with a strained right Teres Major – LeBlanc has been legit. His starter ERA increased from 0.60 entering Sunday to 1.33.

Entering the game, LeBlanc had a 3.47 ERA and the Mariners were 9-2 when he started a game. He has a 4.61 ERA in five relief appearances this season.

The Tigers looked like they might get a third run in the sixth when Jose Iglesias roped a double to the left-field corner off of reliever Ryan Cook, who replaced LeBlanc two batters earlier.

It was up to the replacements.

Andrew Romine used a bare-hand pick up near the wall, then overthrew his relay. But third baseman Gordon Beckham was there and threw a strike to catcher David Freitas to get Tigers not-so-fleet-footed catcher James McCann at the plate for the third out of the inning.

But Liriano had kept the Mariners’ offense in check, retiring 16 consecutive batters and 22 of 24 until the Tigers pulled him for Greene, who entered the game with 10 saves.

He hung the slider to Haniger, though.

“I feel like we’re a good late-inning team,” Haniger said. “We just got to battle.”

And with the bullpen locking down to set up the Mariners’ 12th comeback win, after entering Sunday tied for the third most comeback wins in the American League (behind New York, Boston and Toronto).

Dee Gordon started the 11th inning with a base hit, though Servais said he thought Gordon flared a toe injury he’s been battling for the past week when he dove for a ball in right field in the top half of the inning.

Gordon stole second base, anyway, for his American League-leading 16th steal.

Then Segura’s heroics.

“It just says a lot about this team,” Servais said. “I keep saying it, but these guys really, really enjoy playing with each other and they feed off of each other, which is a great thing to see.

“Our guys believe we’re never out of the game. Somebody can get a big hit, get a rally going. I think you can feel the momentum in our dugout starting to grow and the guys do their little thumbs-up things. It’s been fun to watch.”

This story was originally published May 20, 2018 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Mitch Haniger's mash saved them, then Jean Segura in another extra-innings Mariners walk-off."