Padres storm back
M’s blow lead in 9th, lose in 10
SAN DIEGO – On the verge of a rousing come-from-behind win, the Mariners allowed San Diego to storm to the tying run in the ninth and the game-winner in the 10th inning Wednesday night.
The result was a 3-2 Padres win at Petco Park on Wil Venable’s bases-loaded single with no outs off Mariners reliever Yoervis Medina.
After Jason Bay’s homer in the top of the ninth gave Seattle a 2-1 lead, closer Tom Wilhelmsen could not get the final outs in the bottom of the inning. It was his second blown save of the season.
He started ominously by walking Yasmani Grandal, then gave up a single to Jedd Gyorko – the first hit Wilhelmsen has given up to a right-handed hitter all season. They had been 0 for 33.
Things only got worse when a passed ball by catcher Kelly Shoppach moved runners to second and third. After an intentional walk loaded the bases with no outs, Kyle Blanks delivered a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game, with Gyorko moving up to third.
Wilhelmsen at least kept the game alive by getting Alexi Amarista to pop out and pinch-hitter Carlos Quentin to ground out. But that life didn’t last long. Chris Denorfia led off the 10th against Medina with an infield single after Brendan Ryan just missed a dazzling play on a between-the-legs stop. But his spinning throw was wild.
Everth Cabrera followed with a hit-and-run single – right to the spot vacated by Ryan as he covered second. The Mariners walked Chase Headley, last year’s RBI champion in the National League, to load the bases. Venable laced a drive that glanced off the glove of first baseman Kendrys Morales into short right field as Denorfia scored easily to win it for San Diego.
Bay nearly had his second game-winning hit in four days. On a 2-0 pitch from San Diego closer Huston Street, he launched the ball over the wall in left – just barely, as the ball landed in the first row.
One of the Mariners’ downfalls this year has been a lack of consistency from the bottom three in their rotation.
In five previous road starts, Joe Saunders was 0-4 with an 11.25 ERA, and had not made it out of the sixth inning. That’s contrasted with his 9-1 career mark at Safeco Field (including a 3-1 mark this year with a 2.41 ERA, the loss coming in his last outing).
But in this one, he went seven innings, giving up just four hits and a run, with no walks and three strikeouts.
The Mariners tied the game in the fourth inning after Endy Chavez’s one-out single provided their first base runner of the game. He moved to third on the 17th double of the season by Kyle Seager and scored on a groundout by Morales.