Another nailbiter: Mike Zunino's walk-off homer keeps Mariners' 'remarkable' run going
First the Twins’ lost Byron Buxton.
Then the Mariners’ Nick Vincent and Jean Segura … as if they weren’t without enough players, already.
Then extra-innings.
All the twists and turns and lead changes — but no circumstance has seemed to matter much for the Seattle Mariners lately. They just find a way.
Like Mike Zunino. He had struck out each of his first three at-bats and was 0-for-4 entering that bottom of the 12th inning.
But like Zunino has seemed to pull off much this season, he managed to overcome myriad ugly at-bats with a beautiful one.
He rocketed the two-out pitch over the left-field wall to send the Mariners to a 4-3 walk-off win after 12 innings on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins at Safeco Field, coming almost a year after his walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th against the Twins.
“It’s unbelievable,” Zunino said. “You never know who it’s going to be every day. The starts we’ve been getting from our starters, the plays we’ve been getting from the field. No matter who it is, guys have stepped up and filled in that role. It’s a really fun group to be a park of and it’s fun to show up to the ball park every day.”
The Mariners improved to 31-20, meaning they’re a season-high 11 games over .500 and are 5-0 in extra-innings games (including 3-0 in extras just this week).
They gained a game on the American League West-leading Houston Astros (34-19), who lost the Cleveland Indians much earlier in the day.
And how about another one-run win? The Mariners have played six consecutive games decided by one run – tying a club record – and they’ve won five of the six games.
They lead the majors with 15th one-run victories.
"It’s really a remarkable run we’ve been on and how we’ve done it," Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
“Everybody is contributing and everybody feels like they have a part in it. They know that when they come to the park that somebody is going to have a hand in helping us win the ball game.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/Mariners?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mariners</a> keep rolling. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/walkoff?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#walkoff</a> <a href="https://t.co/73Nq12fPzx">pic.twitter.com/73Nq12fPzx</a></p>— MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/1000618595125051392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Mariners starter Wade LeBlanc disagreed, though. They haven’t been finding too many different ways to win.
“Seems like it’s pretty much been the same way,” he laughed. “Late, big hit from somebody. It’s awesome. Fun to watch.”
Valid point.
Zunino's bomb was smoked with a 112-mph exit velocity 401 feet to Edgar's porch in left field. And it came an inning after Mitch Haniger thought he had a walk-off shot.
Haniger got ahold of a middle-of-the-plate fastball and sent it 395 feet out to center field. That was a foot farther than Nelson Cruz’s two-run home run over the wall in right-center five innings earlier.
Twins center fielder Max Kepler, who replaced injured Byron Buxton, chased it down for an over-the-shoulder catch and the second out of the inning on a pitch that looked like might be Haniger’s 12th homer.
But how about the Mariners’ bullpen?
Juan Nicasio got the game to the 12th thanks to him looking every bit like the player the Mariners so sought this offseason, signing him to a two-year deal. Nicasio faced six batters in the 10th and 11th innings, retiring all six with five strikeouts, which tied a career-high in a relief appearance.
And to start, LeBlanc was more of LeBlank, pitching five scoreless innings before the Twins scored a pair of runs on him in the sixth. The left-hander has a 1.71 ERA since converting from long reliever to Mariners’ starter.
Servais has said many times how LeBlanc has given them much more than they could have hoped for in his five starts since Erasmo Ramirez headed to the disabled list.
But forget that. LeBlanc, 33, is giving them what they need.
“Even though he’s been in the league for a while he’s continuing to add things in how he pitches and how he sequences his pitches,” Servais said. “And that’s what’s been the most impressive.”
Then the Mariners’ bullpen of Ryan Cook, Vincent, James Pazos, Edwin Diaz, Nicasio and Chasen Bradford combined to allow three runs in six innings, with Pazos allowing the only run when the Twins tied the game at 3-3 in the eighth inning.
Pazos had to quickly warm up when Vincent, who got the first two outs, suddenly called for Mariners trainer Rob Nodine and exited with a strained right groin.
And then Segura. He had his third hit of the game, including his fourth home run of the season, before Twins shortstop Gregorio Petit kicked the Mariners’ shortstop in the head as he leaped over the top of him to get Haniger at first base for the double play.
Servais said Segura will likely undergo concussion testing and that he’d know more about Vincent and Segura on Sunday.
But back to earlier.
The Mariners trailed 2-0 in the sixth inning before Nelson Cruz’s big bat showed its face.
Servais hadn’t so much challenged Cruz entering this 10-game home stand, but he certainly did suggest the Seattle Mariners needed their “Boomstick” to escape his slump this home stand.
Request delivered.
Cruz’s sixth-inning two-run missile just cleared the center-field wall and gave the Mariners a 3-2 lead.
That lasted until the eighth.
Vincent left with a 3-0 count against Twins slugger Miguel Sano. So the Mariners brought Pazos in.
He walked Sano, allowed a single to Eddie Rosario and Eduardo Escobar followed with a single.
Mitch Haniger’s throw from right field didn’t get Sano at the plate, but Zunino quickly uncorked a strike to second to get Escobar for the third out. Very athletic play.
But then he also caught Petit stealing off a ball in the dirt in the top of the 12th, tossing a strike to Kyle Seager, who was covering second base on the play and had to flip his glove around for the tag.
“Once I picked it and got the throw off I just knew I needed to get to third base in case anything happened on the other side,” Zunino said. “It was quick, but I tried to get rid of it as quick as I could.”
So even though Zunino had struggled at the plate, he made up for it with big defense and then the walk-off homer.
“No doubt – that washes away a lot of stuff that happened earlier,” Servais said. “Get a little adrenaline going. Our guys were in it all night. I really felt good about the ball game.”
A couple of takeaways:
Wade LeBlank
Wade LeBlanc is considered an old-school pitcher. Probably because his fastball traveled about 10-mph slower than fellow lefty James Paxton’s does.
But he’s been just as effective since sliding into the rotation this month, posting a 1.71 ERA in his five starts since taking over for Erasmo Ramirez, who headed to the disabled list with a strain of his right Teres Major.
Keep in mind, LeBlanc hadn’t started since the 2016 season before this year. He spent all of last year pitching out of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen.
Is it safe to call him a solidified starter now? Entering Saturday, only the Mets’ Jacob deGrom (0.37 ERA), Braves’ Sean Newcomb (0.36 ERA) and Tigers’ Justin Verlander (0.77 ERA) had lower earned-run averages than LeBlanc dating back to April 27.
“They give me the ball, I’ve said it a million times, I’m going to throw until they take it from me,” LeBlanc said. “Whether it’s as a starter or reliever – as long as they give me a jersey and a hat I’m going to keep going out there.”
But for all of these quality starts, he has an 0-0 record to show for it.
LeBlanc was in line for the win until the Twins tied it in the eighth inning. He finished after six innings, having allowed four hits, two runs and two walks with four strikeouts.
Defense does it
The Mariners weren’t getting much from their offense.
But some big defensive plays.
Start with Ben Gamel.
He dove, full extension, on Miguel Sano’s line drive to the left-center gap in the third inning for the third out – stranding a pair of runners on base.
Then there was Guillermo Heredia, ranging seemingly across all of center field to chase down Max Kepler’s hard-hit liner in the left-center gap for the final out of the 10th inning.
Mitch Haniger got in on that, seeding his throw from the right-field corner to second base in the ninth inning to get former Mariner Logoan Morrison for the second out.
And the Twins scored the tying run in the eighth inning, but when Haniger’s throw didn’t get to the plate in time to get Sano, Mike Zunino quickly fired to second base to throw out Eduardo Escobar for the final out of the inning and limit damage.
Zunino followed with an incredible play in the 12th inning, picking a pitch out of the dirt and firing to second base to catch Gregorio Petit stealing. And his throw was to Kyle Seager, who was covering the base with the Mariners’ shift on.
“Our defense has played really well through this stretch and that’s what’s helped our pitching, no doubt,” Servais said. “Zunino on the redirect was awesome. That was a really athletic play for a catcher to make and Mike’s got a great arm.
“The defensive contributions, everybody into it, that’s what helps your pitching.”
Here comes the Boom
Nelson Cruz went 56 at-bats between his previous home run on May 3 and his go-ahead, two-run shot on Saturday night.
He went 83 at-bats between home runs in one stretch last year, but before that the longest he’d gone without a Cruz missile 72 at-bats in the 2015 season.
Translation: Cruz was due.
“It was great to see Nelson Cruz get a big hit, drive one out of the ball park,” Servais said. “We hadn’t seen that in a while. Hopefully he relaxes and he can get it going, as well.”
And it came in a big moment with the Mariners trailing 2-1 and Guillermo Heredia had just been thrown out trying to take third base when a ball just got past catcher Mitch Garver … though not very far.
Heredia got over-anxious and was thrown out.
Cruz followed one pitch later with his 394-foot HR over the wall in right-center, his eighth homer of the season.
Twins center fielder Byron Buxton crashed into the wall chasing it and it appeared he almost robbed Cruz. But he lay flat on his back for a few minutes before walking off the field. Max Kepler moved to center field to replace him.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Byron Buxton ran into the wall trying to grab a Nelson Cruz HR, he left with a cut over his left eye <a href="https://t.co/UziMb6tOv7">pic.twitter.com/UziMb6tOv7</a></p>— Born Salty (@cjzero) <a href="https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/1000597143512547328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2018</a></blockquote>
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TJ Cotterill: 253-597-8677
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This story was originally published May 26, 2018 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Another nailbiter: Mike Zunino's walk-off homer keeps Mariners' 'remarkable' run going."