Streaking Mariners win in 10 innings for 4-game sweep of Angels
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Like any other die-hard Seahawks fan, Mariners reliever Tayler Saucedo watched in wonder when pictures of a shirtless DK Metcalf first floated around social media a few years ago.
How, Saucedo remembered thinking to himself, does a human being look like that?
Then he stepped on a scale and wondered: How the hell do I look like this?
At the time the Seahawks drafted Metcalf in 2019, Saucedo was pitching for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Class AA affiliate. At 6-feet-4, Sauced weighed a hefty 250 pounds. It wasn’t uncommon for him finish off a 12-pack of cheap beer on his own during one of those long bus rides around the Eastern League.
Then he looked at those images of Metcalf’s superhero physique and made a commitment to himself to change. He started to eat better, stopped drinking beer and, instead, drank as much water as he could.
He wound up losing 53 pounds.
That change, he said, helped set him on a path to reach his big-league dream, and on Sunday the 30-year-old Tahoma High School product reached his pinnacle, closing out a thrilling 3-2 victory in the 10th inning to help the Mariners complete a rare four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels on the road.
Eugenio Suarez singled to drive in automatic runner Ty France from second base for the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th, and the Mariners (60-52) have won a season-high five in a row, and 10 of their last 12.
They swept the Angels in a four-game series for the first time since July 2005.
The Angels (56-57) have lost six straight.
With Seattle’s overworked bullpen limited, Saucedo was asked to record the final six outs of the game, and the left-hander retired three consecutive right-handed sluggers in the 10th to strand the automatic runner at second base.
Saucedo struck out C.J. Cron swinging through a high fastball to end it, then spun around the mound and gave an emphatic fist pump with his left hand.
“It felt pretty good, you know,” said Saucedo, who picked up the third win of his major-league career. “Obviously, to complete the sweep and go out there and do the job, it’s great.”
“Sauce,” as he’s known around the clubhouse, has been one of the most pleasant surprises in a bullpen filled with them, right alongside Justin Topa and Gabe Speier. They’ve all being asked to do a little bit more since Seattle traded closer Paul Sewald to Arizona last week.
“Wow — Hot Sauce,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Sauce was fantastic.”
Saucedo made his MLB debut with Toronto in 2021, posting a 4.56 earned-run average in 29 games. He had a 13.50 ERA in four games last year and was designated for assignment after the season. The New York Mets picked him up last November and DFA’d him two months later.
When the Mariners claimed him off waivers on Jan. 31, Servais admitted he didn’t know anything about the left-hander.
He does now.
“He’s been so good for us,” Servais said. “I love his personality. He never gets too high or too low. He just kind of rolls with it. And he likes those moments; he’s been able to make pitches in those moments to get us through it. And credit to him. He’s got a ton of confidence right now and we want to keep him right there.”
Andres Munoz, Matt Brash and Speier were all unavailable Sunday.
After a terrific bounce-back start from rookie Bryce Miller, rookie Isaiah Campbell pitched the sixth inning. Newcomer Trent Thornton worked the seventh, and Topa pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.
Servais said he didn’t hesitate to ask Saucedo to pitch the 10th inning after he’d thrown just nine pitches to retire the side in the ninth. (Saucedo admitted, yes, he was holding his breath when Mike Moustakas flew out to the warning track in deep right field for the first out of the ninth.)
In 35 games, Saucedo has a 2.08 ERA for the Mariners, with 36 strikeouts, 16 walks and only one home run allowed in 34 2/3 innings.
Saucedo was one of the first to pick up a new Seahawks jersey when the throwback uniforms were unveiled a couple weeks ago — he proudly wore the No. 54 for Bobby Wagner in the M’s home clubhouse that day — and he said he’s been invited to attend a Seahawks training-camp practice during one of the Mariners’ off days later this week.
“This has been easily my favorite year, by far,” he said. “And, obviously, to have the success with the team I grew up loving and them putting the trust in me from the very beginning since I got here, it’s been awesome. I can’t thank them enough.”
J.P. Crawford homered on the first pitch of the game, and Teoscar Hernandez broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh with a 110-mph rocket out to left field off Angels starter Chase Silseth. Matt Thaiss’ solo shot off Thornton tied the score at 2-2 in the seventh.
Miller had one of his best starts of the season, allowing one run over five innings, striking out 10 with no walks. The right-hander from Texas said he felt right at home on a humid, 90-degree afternoon in Southern California, and his fastball velocity remained in the 96-to-97-mph range through all five innings.
“It’s easy to throw hard when it’s nice and hot out,” he said. “ … The ball was coming out good. All my off-speed (pitches) felt good. Overall, I’m really happy with it.”
Silseth, the Angels’ rookie right-hander, struck out 12 with only one walk over seven innings.
It’s the first time since 1906 that two rookie pitchers have struck out 10 or more batters in the same game, according to MLB.com.
Twice Miller struck out Shohei Ohtani, getting the Angels superstar to chase a slider in the dirt to end the fifth inning. It was Miller’s 85th and final pitch of the day. The Mariners improved to 5-9 in extra-inning games this season.