Cruz’s walk-off RBI single lifts Mariners past Yankees in 10 innings
Need a walk-off hit? Who better than the guy who leads the American League in RBIs.
Nelson Cruz delivered a walk-off RBI single Saturday night in the 10th inning that lifted the Mariners to a wild 6-5 victory over the New York Yankees in front of a sellout crowd at Safeco Field.
"Everybody got their money’s worth," manager Scott Servais said. "There was a lot of energy in the ballpark. Exciting game. Back and forth. We needed a win tonight.
"The Yankees got us the first couple (in the series), but the intensity level was there tonight."
The Mariners appeared to have the game won twice before Cruz’s walk-off winner. First, they blew a 4-1 lead when the Yankees scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings.
And then, after Robinson Cano made it 5-4 with a leadoff homer in the eighth, Edwin Diaz came within one strike of closing out the victory before the Yankees pulled even.
Somehow, it worked out — which hasn’t been the case lately.
"That was a great game," said left fielder Ben Gamel, a former Yankees farmhand whom the Mariners acquired roughly 11 months ago in a trade. "They battled just as much as we did. Fortunately, we came out on top."
Gamel started the winning rally with a leadoff double against Adam Warren (2-2) on a drive over the head of center fielder Brett Gardner.
"I saw Warren (on Friday)," Gamel said. "I had a pitch in mind, and I got it. A little slider/cutter over the plate."
That prompted an intentional walk to Cano, a .349 hitter in 21 games against his former club. That got the game to Cruz, who lined a single into left field.
Gamel got a great break off of second base and easily beat the throw from Clint Frazier for the winning run.
"It was a great victory," said Cruz, who has 75 RBIs. "Everybody contributed. It’s fun. You always want to win right away so you don’t (overwork) your bullpen. But a victory is a victory."
Tony Zych, the seventh pitcher used by the Mariners, got the victory after retiring the Yankees in the top of the inning. He is 4-2.
The Mariners (49-50) won for just the third time in their last 14 home games. They also beat the Yankees for only the second time in the last 14 games between the two teams at Safeco.
But, boy, the Mariners did it the hard way.
Lefty Ariel Miranda handed a 4-2 lead to Steve Cishek with one out and nobody on base in the sixth inning — and Aaron Judge coming to the plate. Miranda was at 93 pitches.
That didn’t work.
Judge hit a 2-2 pitch into the right-field seats for his 32nd homer of the season. Cishek retired the next two hitters before the Mariners went to newcomer David Phelps in the seventh inning.
Phelps worked a three-up, three-down frame and then struck out the first hitter in the eighth inning before the Mariners called on Marc Rzepczynski for a left-on-left matchup against Gardner.
That didn’t work.
Gardner reached on an infield single. The Mariners then made another pitching change, with a series of right-handed hitters coming up, to right-hander Nick Vincent.
That didn’t work either.
Clint Frazier drove Vincent’s first pitch off the left-field wall for a double. Gardner stopped at third. An intentional walk to Judge loaded the bases for Matt Holliday with one out.
Holliday tied the game with a sacrifice fly that also moved Frazier to third, which stuck Vincent with his first blown save of the season.
Vincent held the tie when right fielder Mitch Haniger charged in to catch Gary Sanchez’s sinking liner.
The Mariners regained the lead on Cano’s leadoff homer later in the inning against David Robertson, which got the game to Diaz.
Didi Gregorius opened the ninth inning with a walk, but Diaz retired the next two hitters before pinch-runner Jacoby Ellsbury stole second base. That steal turned into a run when Ronald Torreyes flicked a single into left field.
Torreyes nearly struck out earlier in the at-bat but stayed alive the throwing his bat at the ball and just getting a piece of it.
Diaz ended the inning by striking out Gardner, but it was his fourth blown save in 22 chances.
The Mariners built a 4-1 lead against New York starter Masahiro Tanaka by scoring four runs in the third inning. Mike Zunino and Gamel each had homers.
New York got one run back in the fifth inning after Garrett Cooper’s one-out triple just beyond the reach of Jarrod Dyson at the center-field wall. Dyson slammed into the wall and was slow to get to his feet.
Torreyes followed with a sacrifice fly — to Dyson, who finished the inning. Guillermo Heredia replaced Dyson to start the sixth inning.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Third baseman Kyle Seager made two lunging plays to his left.
Seager snagged Gary Sanchez’s sharp grounder and turned it into the second out of the fourth inning and grabbed Todd Frazier’s liner for the first out in the fifth.
PLUS: Gamel threw out Clint Frazier at second base in the first inning in addition to getting a homer and double in five at-bats…Haniger went 2-for-4 and is 10-for-32 (.313) over his last nine games…Cano’s homer was the ninth among his 19 to give the Mariners a lead…the attendance of 46,197 was the largest of the season.
MINUS: Jean Segura went 0-for-5 for a second straight game, which dropped his average to .332…Dyson is likely to miss a couple of games after suffering a hyperextended toe when he slammed into the wall.
STAT PACK: The Mariners recorded their fifth walk-off victory of the season but their first in over month. The last one was June 20 when Kyle Seager had a walk-off RBI double in a 5-4 victory over Detroit in 10 innings.
QUOTABLE: Asked about the importance of winning at home, Cruz said: "We have to play good everywhere. Our goal is to go to the playoffs. So we have to step up and tighten up our game."
SHORT HOPS: Phelps is the 32nd different pitcher used this season by the Mariners, which matches their 2016 total as a franchise record…all six of the Mariners’ victory since the All-Star break have been come-from-behind victories…the Yankees put second baseman Starlin Castro back on the disabled list because of a strained right hamstring. They replaced him by recalling second baseman Tyler Wade from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
ON DECK: The Mariners and Yankees conclude their four-game series at 1:10 p.m. Sunday at Safeco Field. Right-hander Yovani Gallardo (3-2 with a 4.79 ERA) returns to the rotation and will face New York left-hander Caleb Smith (0-1, 6.00).
The game can be seen on Root Sports Northwest and heard on 710 ESPN and the Mariners Radio Network.
Bob Dutton: @TNT_Mariners
This story was originally published July 22, 2017 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Cruz’s walk-off RBI single lifts Mariners past Yankees in 10 innings."