Mariners sweep Oakland for season-high fifth straight win
OAKLAND, Calif. – Here we are, in the season’s final month, and, finally, the Mariners are on a roll. Their 3-2 victory on Sunday completed a three-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics.
It also stretched their winning streak to a season-best five games and, if you still want to believe, pulled them to within six games of Texas in the American League wild-card chase.
“There are a lot of players in here who have a lot of talent,” third baseman Kyle Seager said. “We didn’t play as well as we’d like to in the beginning, but the confidence in each other never wavered.”
More than that, though, Sunday’s victory showed how serendipity shines brightest when things are going well. The Mariners scored all three of their runs after trying to run themselves out of the fifth inning.
“Listen, we probably should have lost the ballgame today,” manager Lloyd McClendon said. “I’ll leave it at that. I’m a little emotional right now, and I don’t like to comment when I’m emotional.”
What’s different, at the moment, is they didn’t lose it.
The Mariners held on behind Hisashi Iwakuma (7-3) and a still-suspect bullpen that got another boost from recharged closer Tom Wilhelmsen, who escaped an inherited jam in the eighth and one of his own making in the ninth.
“Tom was as gutsy as I’ve seen him in the two years that I’ve been here,” McClendon said. “That was not an easy save from a guy who needs rest desperately. He did a tremendous job for us.”
Wilhelmsen pitched for the fourth time in five games and is 8 for 8 in save opportunities since reclaiming the job.
“My body feels great,” he said. “My mind feels better.”
The Mariners led 3-1 when Mark Canha started the Oakland eighth with a single through the left side against Logan Kensing, who then put the tying run on base by walking Carson Blair after being ahead 1-2 in the count.
A wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position, which enabled Canha to score on Danny Valencia’s grounder to short. Blair moved to second.
That was it for Kensing. The Mariners summoned Wilhelmsen, who retired the next two hitters with the tying run on second.
Wilhelmsen got two quick outs in the ninth before singles by Marcus Semien and Billy Burns put the tying and winning runs on base. That got the game to Canha, who was 5-for-11 in the series.
Canha hit a line drive to deep left that Seth Smith gathered in for the out.
In the fifth, the game was scoreless when Logan Morrison led off with a single to right and tried to go to third on Brad Miller’s grounder through the right side. Morrison should have made it easily.
But Morrison eased into the base standing up when Chris Woodward, who normally coaches first base, didn’t signal for a slide. Valencia took the throw and applied the tag.
However, Nolin loaded the bases by walking the next two hitters. Next came a little luck when Ketel Marte found grass on a duck snort into short right that scored one run.
Seager followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center for a 2-0 lead, and the Mariners got still another break, and another run, when a Nolin threw a wild pitch.