Mariners’ rally goes for naught
Walks hurt Seattle in 10th inning as bullpen loses again
SEATTLE – Whatever demons are plaguing the Mariners’ bullpen are now tormenting rookie closer Carson Smith, who stumbled Monday for the second time in three games in a 4-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks
The Mariners had just pulled even on Mike Zunino’s two-out RBI single in the ninth when Smith put the go-ahead run on base with a leadoff walk to Paul Goldschmidt in the 10th inning.
After striking out A.J. Pollock, Smith threw a wild pitch that moved Goldschmidt to second before he walked Aaron Hill. Arizona loaded the bases with one out when Smith hit former teammate Welington Castillo with a pitch.
The Mariners replaced Smith with former D-dacks lefty Vidal Nuno, who surrendered a sacrifice fly to Jake Lamb.
The ball wasn’t hit particularly deep to center field, but Austin Jackson double-clutched before making a throw to the plate. Goldschmidt scored easily.
Smith (1-4) gave up two runs in the ninth inning Saturday in an 8-6 loss to Toronto. The Mariners’ bullpen has five losses in 11 games since the All-Star break.
Andrew Chafin closed out Arizona’s victory with a scoreless 10th inning for his second save. The victory went to ex-Mariners lefty Oliver Perez (2-1), who yielded Zunino’s game-tying single.
It amounted to another disheartening loss for the Mariners in their bid to climb back into the postseason picture. They hit the 100-game mark at 46-54.
Arizona lefty Robby Ray was positioned for a victory before Zunino’s single after holding the Mariners to two runs and six hits in seven innings before handing a one-run lead to the bullpen.
Randall Delgado rolled through a one-two-three eighth with two strikeouts. Daniel Hudson worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth by getting a double-play grounder.
But Hudson exited after Mark Trumbo’s two-out double.
In came Perez, who walked Logan Morrison. The ball-four pitch got past Castillo, which permitted pinch-runner Chris Taylor to reach third.
Zunino followed with his RBI single, but Perez held the tie by retiring Brad Miller on a fly to center.
Mariners starter Mike Montgomery was coming off a rough outing at Detroit, when he allowed eight runs in 2 2/3 innings, and he gave up homers in each of the first two innings in falling into a 3-0 hole.
Montgomery threw a career-high 116 pitches over his 6 2/3 innings while allowing two earned runs and five hits. He walked four and struck out five.
Arizona opened the scoring when Goldschmidt crushed an 0-1 fastball — a 90-mph four-seamer — for a two-out solo homer in the first inning.
The lead climbed to 2-0 when Castillo, the former 15-day Mariner, turned on an 0-1 fastball with one out in the second inning.
Lamb followed with a walk before the Diamondbacks loaded the bases on singles by Chris Owings and Nick Ahmed.
When Miller booted Ender Inciarte’s grounder to short for an error, everyone moved up a notch and it was 3-0.
The Mariners, after hitting into double plays in the first and fourth innings, broke through in the fifth after Trumbo’s leadoff double into the right-center gap.
Morrison followed with an RBI single to left, which broke Arizona’s scoreless streak at 22 innings. Ray struck out the next three hitters, all swinging.
Cano’s homer in the sixth pulled the Mariners to within 3-2. He jumped a first-pitch slider for this 11th of the season and ninth in his last 30 games.