J.P. Crawford’s homer in ninth lifts Mariners to win against Mets

NEW YORK — Perhaps the P in his initials really stands for Power.

J.P. Crawford, real name John Paul, continued to be the Mariners’ most important player this season on the field and off it.

The Mariners’ shortstop and unofficial team captain continued his stellar season of production at the plate, delivering when the Mariners need it most.

Leading off the top of the ninth Saturday with the score tied, Crawford sat on an 0-1 changeup from Adam Ottavino, yanking it over the wall in right field for a home run and what would be the winning run in the Mariners’ hard-fought 8-7 victory over the Mets.

“Oh man, crazy games, we play them on the road and certainly I think we are going to have a few more of them in September,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.

With eight more games remaining on this road trip, including the series finale Sunday, nothing is going to be simple for Seattle. But why change what works?

“It’s been fun,” Crawford said. “Man, the grind has been really fun. We’ve been through the highs of highs and the lows of lows It’s kind of a full-circle effect and we’re just riding that wave right now.”

Crawford has seen signs held by fans that call him John Power.

“I don’t like it, that’s my government name and that means I’m in trouble usually,” Crawford joked. “No, I’m kidding. It’s really cool. Life is good right now. I’m not thinking about anything but putting a good swing on the ball and I’m not missing the pitches I should be hitting.”

He’s homered in each of the first two games of this series and has 14 on the season.

“He’s a different player now than what we saw the last couple years,” Servais said. “It’s his ability to drive the ball and looking for certain pitches to drive the ball. It’s not just looking to get on base there, but do damage with an extra base hit. After he took the first swing in the ninth, I had a pretty good idea what he was trying to do. It’s really hard to walk up there and try to do it and then do it.”

Two days into September, the Mariners again stand alone atop the American League West standings. There is no sharing it with either the Astros or Rangers, who both lost Saturday night. Seattle (77-58) sits one game ahead of the Astros (77-60) and two games ahead of the Rangers (75-60).

“We’ll just try to win the series tomorrow,” Servais said, avoiding a question about the standings.

Given the back-and-forth nature of the game, where the Mariners would take a lead and lose it, the bottom of the ninth had to feature some drama.

After recording the much-needed final out of the eighth inning and squelching a game-tying hit, right-hander Justin Topa came back out to make Crawford’s homer hold up.

Born and raised in upstate New York. serving as the bat boy for then Class AA Binghamton Mets and playing at Long Island University, Topa had a large cheering contingent of friends and family in the seats of Citi Field.

He picked up the first out of the ninth in unexpected fashion. Former Mariner Daniel Vogelbach, who drove in the winning run Friday night for New York, lined a ball into the gap in right-center.

Perhaps thinking it would get to the wall, the not-so-speedy Vogelbach inexplicably headed for second base. Left fielder Sam Haggerty was able to cut the ball off, spin and fire quickly to Crawford, who was the cutoff man. Crawford caught the ball and paused, almost in disbelief that Vogelbach was trying for second. He flipped the ball to Josh Rojas, who applied the tag as Vogelbach attempted a headfirst slide, but never actually got to the base.

“Obviously, Vogey is not a fast runner, but we executed the play and hit the cutoff man,” Servais said.

Crawford tried to be diplomatic about the play and not mock his former teammate.

“That was just a weird play I’ve never seen before in all my years of playing,” he said. “It was just so weird. I knew we had a chance off the bat and it kind of just threw me off a little bit. Sam got to it quick and he got it in quick.”

The miscue loomed large when the next batter, D.J. Stewart, singled up the middle. Topa was able to close out the victory, getting Brett Baty to pop out to third and Francisco Alvarez to hit a comebacker to the mound.

“Obviously, I have a lot of ties here,” Topa said. “There’s definitely a little history with the Mets organization and just to be here and have 25-plus people there. Tonight was pretty, pretty special.”

The back-and-forth affair featured a combined 23 hits, including five homers, two triples, two doubles, five walks and two hit by pitches.

Seattle got an uneven start from Luis Castillo, who pitched five-plus innings, allowing five runs on eight hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

With his velocity slightly down on his fastball and the crispness of his pitches lacking, Castillo struggled to generate swings and misses in needed counts or consistent weak contact the second time through the Mets order.

Given a 3-0 lead going into the fourth inning, Castillo gave up a leadoff single to Pete Alonso and then hit Vogelbach in the foot. His very next pitch — a 95-mph fastball that stayed in the middle of the plate — was ambushed by Stewart and sent over the fence in center field for a game-tying three-run homer.

The normally stone-faced Castillo was stunned and then highly irritated at the result, showing an uncharacteristic amount of anger and emotion as Stewart circled the bases.

“I was angry at the location,” Castillo said through interpreter Freddy Llanos.

But it didn’t lead to improved command or lockdown results.

His teammates gave him another lead, this time a four-run cushion, thanks to Teoscar Hernandez’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning and three runs in the sixth, highlighted by Dominic Canzone’s pinch-hit two-run homer to right field.

Castillo started the sixth inning and couldn’t get an out. He gave up a solo homer to Mark Vientos on a 3-1 fastball and then walked Omar Narvaez. Servais went to his bullpen.

Lefty Gabe Speier entered the game and struck out Ronny Mauricio and Brandon Nimmo. But a 1-2 slider to Francisco Lindor caught just enough plate, allowing the Mets’ switch-hitting shortstop to yank it down the line and off the foul pole in left field for a two-run homer.