Kyle Seager saves day for Mariners

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Kyle Seager wasn’t going to let his team lose on Tuesday night. He’d pulled the Mariners out of the doldrums of a 3-2 deficit with an eighth-inning grand slam - the team’s first in 217 games. He watched his team’s closer and All-Star second base turn the bottom of the ninth inning into a complete fiasco, somehow blowing a 6-3 lead and allowing it to become a 6-6 tie. Seager took care of the win in the 10th inning, crushing a solo homer over the wall in deep center field for the deciding run in the Mariners’ 7-6 win over the Rays, and also saving Seattle from one of the most unthinkable losses in a season already full of them. And unlike Fernando Rodney, who imploded in his save opportunity in the ninth, veteran left-hander Joe Beimel pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 10th to pick up his save. Rodney was credited with a win despite putting the Mariners on the brink of defeat. In the bottom of the ninth Rodney loaded the bases immediately, giving up two singles and hitting a batter. Evan Longoria doubled off the top of the wall to score two runs. Rodney then looked like he would pull his Houdini act and get out of the jam. He got a pop-up for the first out. He then got Jake Elmore to hit a perfect double play ball to Kyle Seager. And the double play seemed like a given until inexplicably Robinson Cano threw the ball away in shades of Chuck Knoblauch and Steve Sax to allow the tying run to score. And yet, Seager bailed them both out. A series sweep Wednesday with Felix Hernandez on the mound is now a possibility. In the eighth inning, the Mariners loaded the bases against Tampa Bay reliever Jake McGee on two singles and a costly error by old friend Nick Franklin. Seager then allowed all three runners to leisurely trot home, ambushing the first pitch he saw from McGee and sending into the right-field seats for a grand slam. The last grand slam from a Mariner came on Sept. 28, 2013 - the second to last game of the season. Brad Miller hit that blast. Since then the Mariners had come to the plate 140 times with the bases loaded and not produced a home run. It was the second grand slam of Seager’s career. And with that hit, he’s now hitting .381 (16 for 42) with a .619 slugging percentage with the bases full. The Mariners showed a little moxie in that inning against McGee, who had been Tampa’s most reliable reliever the past few seasons. Pinch-hitter Rickie Weeks worked a 3-1 count and then singled crisply up the middle to start the inning. After going 2-2, Cano fouled off three pitches before dumping a single into left field. Nelson Cruz then hit a scorching ground ball to second base right at Franklin, but the one time Mariners’ prospect, couldn’t make the play and it loaded the bases for Seager. The late-inning heroics made the first-inning failures and frustrations seem like a memory. Seattle jumped on Rays’ starter Alex Colome. In his first at-bat since coming off the disabled list, Austin Jackson sent a rocket line drive up the middle that left Colome flailing to get out of the way. During the next at-bat, Jackson stole second and advanced to third on Rene Rivera’s throwing error. Seth Smith promptly plated Jackson with a single to right field to make it 1-0. Smith eventually worked his way around the bases and scored on Seager’s little nubber of an infield single that Colome tried to make a play on at home. Smith slid in to the foot of Rivera. The Rays asked for a replay ruling and the call was upheld. But the two runs would be all that Seattle mustered. It should have been more. Logan Morrison drew a one-out walk to load the bases, but Welington Castillo grounded into an inning-ending double play. Still, a 2-0 lead before you step on the mound is something J.A. Happ would gladly have in any start. And yet, he managed to give it right back in the first inning. Happ should have been out of the inning with no runs, even after giving up a one-out double to Joey Butler. Jackson ran down a deep drive from Evan Longoria in center for the second out. But Happ hit the next hitter - Logan Forsythe - with a pitch on a 2-2 count and then walked Tim Beckham to load the bases. The free bases came back to haunt Happ when Jake Elmore looped a liner into right field just in front of Smith to score two runs and tie the score. The Rays took the lead in the third inning. Beckham reached on a fielder’s choice. And with two outs he stole second base and scored on Elmore’s single up the middle to make it 3-2. Happ, who came into the game with a career 9.26 ERA in three starts and a relief appearance at Tropicana Field, grinded out six innings despite not having pinpoint command. And with the Mariners only having six relievers in the bullpen, it was a needed outing.