Vogelbach homers to upper deck, Smith steals home and Mariners open homestand with a win
Home sweet home? The Seattle Mariners certainly hope so.
After returning home Monday from a winless six-game road trip, the Mariners regrouped with a 6-2 win over American League West rival Texas at T-Mobile Park to open their longest homestand of the season.
“Everybody chipped in,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “There were good at-bats, we grinded out some at-bats, we got some big hits, we got a big homer. Everything was involved.
“It’s hard when you come off a road trip like that. Guys are frustrated, they’re struggling. We just have to be consistent with what we’re trying to do here. The message going forward is we’re going to work our tail off, we’re going to get better.”
With Seattle clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh, designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach left no doubt that the six-game losing streak was over, slugging a two-out, two-run homer into the upper deck in right field.
“Way back,” center fielder Mallex Smith said. “Interesting thing about that is he did it earlier in BP. Third deck, and then followed it up with the game.”
His team-leading 15th homer of the season, off Texas reliever Jose Leclerc, just cleared the foul pole, and was upheld on replay review, becoming what is believed to be the third homer hit to the third deck in park history.
“When it’s warmer here the ball does carry,” Servais said. “In batting practice today, Vogey hit one ball up in the upper deck and I was like, ‘Wow, the ball is just jumping.’ He’s like, ‘I figured something out.’ He figured something out, I guess. But, for the ball to go over the top of the foul pole like that, that’s some kind of special power. He hit the crap out of it.
“I thought it had a chance to stay fair. I had no idea it was going to end up in the upper deck. I thought it would kind of curve around the pole or whatever, the way he hit it, and it just kept going.”
Veteran third baseman Kyle Seager, three games removed from returning from an extended stay on the injured list, also scored on the play, and joined Vogelbach as one of three Mariners with multiple hits in the game.
Smith also had a pair of base hits, and stole a career-high four bases — Seattle combined for six in the game, tying a club record — including swiping home in the eighth to give the Mariners their final four-run lead. He became the first Mariner since Dustin Ackley in 2012 to bag home, and matched the club record for single-game steals.
Smith stole both second and third in the eighth, before Mitch Haniger drew a one-out walk. Smith said his first thought as Haniger trotted to first was about a possible opportunity to steal home.
“I tell everybody, the No. 1 best way to be a good base stealer is to be aggressive,” said Smith, who has swiped 12 bags this season. “You can’t be afraid to get thrown out. ... You have to toe the line between crazy and stupid.”
When Texas reliever Kyle Bird attempted a pickoff move on Haniger at first, Smith took off, and beat the throw home.
“It was great to see Mallex get going,” Servais said. “I’ve never seen it before. I’ve never seen anybody steal three bases in one inning. It was great. Good for him. Get a little momentum, some confidence going there.”
Despite a quality start, the Mariners did enough early to hand Texas starter Lance Lynn (6-4, 4.66 ERA) — who recorded two wins in his first two meetings with Seattle this season — just his second loss in May. Lynn left after six complete innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits, while striking out 10 and walking three on 116 pitches.
The Mariners checked in with a pair of runs in the third inning to grab the game’s first lead, pushing their record to 18-11 in games they score first in. Seattle is winless since April 17, and 6-21 this season, when its opponent scratches across the opening run.
Smith, who returned from Triple-A Tacoma earlier this month, and had the past two games off to work on his swing, recorded the first hit off Lynn with a leadoff single to right center in the third, and promptly swiped his ninth bag of the season.
“Mallex kind of had his little swagger back on the field,” Vogelbach said. “He’s having fun, he’s doing what Mallex does and makes Mallex so good, and credit to him. He’s worked his tail off the past few weeks and just continued to trust that it was going to get better. And, hopefully for the rest of the season it’s nothing but spectacular for him.”
Smith scored on a Kyle Seager bloop single to left two batters later, and Seager pushed across another run on a Domingo Santana single, before Lynn ended the frame with back-to-back strikeouts.
Mariners starter Tommy Milone (1-0, 3.38), who made his season debut against the Rangers last week, worked a quick two outs in the third before Joey Gallo roped a single to right, and Logan Forsythe followed with a two-out RBI double that nearly cleared wall in left. Santana misplayed the bounce off the wall, and Gallo sped around to score from first to make it 2-1.
Rookie second baseman Shed Long responded for the Mariners in the bottom half, knocking a one-out double to right, and scoring on Smith’s second consecutive single the following at-bat. Long has hit safely in all five games he’s played in since being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on May 21, and three of the five hits he has recorded are doubles.
But, the Rangers again cut the lead in half in the fourth, making it 3-2 on a one-out solo shot to straightaway center by Ronald Guzman.
Milone recorded another pair of speedy outs in the sixth, but issued his first walk of the game to Gallo on four consecutive pitches after working ahead in the count 0-2, and was pulled. He completed a season-high 5 2/3, allowing the two earned runs on four hits, while striking out seven and walking one on 80 pitches. Right-hander Cory Gearrin struck out Forsythe, who doubled in his first two at-bats, to retire the side.
Earlier, Milone, who recorded his first win of the season, struck out six in his first three innings, working 1-2-3 frames in the first in third. He stranded Forsythe at third in the second, after allowing a one-out double. The Rangers strung together multiple hits in an inning just once against Milone, in the one-run fourth. It was his longest start since pitching six innings to open a game for the Nationals last August.
“I think there’s a benefit for both sides,” Milone said of the quick turnaround facing Texas again. “Obviously they just saw me. They can kind of pull tendencies. I think that’s the one thing I tried to stay away from this time around was just being predictable. Just move the ball around, change speeds and keep them off-balance.”
Making his second relief appearance for Seattle since being acquired from the Braves last week, lefty Jesse Biddle worked a scoreless seventh, and struck out Shin-soo Choo to open the eighth before Austin Adams took over. Adams retired the next two batters for a combined 1-2-3 frame. Anthony Bass, another recent acquisition who signed with Seattle as a free agent, struck out the side in the ninth.
ON TAP
Mariners ace Marco Gonzales (5-4, 3.41) will try to break up a winless May when Seattle hosts Texas in the second game of their three-game series Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. He last recorded a win on April 25.
Right-hander Adrian Sampson (2-3, 4.44), a Skyline High School product, is scheduled to pitch for the Rangers.
The game will be broadcast on Root Sports Northwest and 710 ESPN radio.
This story was originally published May 27, 2019 at 9:24 PM.
