J.P. Crawford hits walkoff homer as Mariners stun Rangers
SEATTLE – With this lineup, and with these stakes, it’s easy to dream on the possibilities for these new-look Mariners over the next couple months.
The T-Mobile Park crowd of 40,984 could sense some of those possibilities percolating on a couple of occasions earlier in Friday’s game, collectively rising to its feet, trying to will a breakthrough.
The Mariners, up until the game’s final pitch, weren’t able to rise with the fans.
And then J.P. Crawford delivered the most thrilling regular-season moment of his career.
Seattle’s veteran shortstop turned on a 95-mph inside fastball from Texas Rangers closer Robert Garcia and sent it 370-feet out to right field for a two-run walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Mariners a stunning 4-3 victory over the rival Texas Rangers.
It was the first walkoff homer of J.P. Crawford’s career, and reverse what would have been a frustrating loss into one of the most exciting victories of the season.
Dominic Canzone led off the ninth with a sharp single off Garcia, and pinch runner Miles Mastrobuoni scored on Crawford’s walkoff.
Teammates greeted Crawford at home plate, and he was doused in water during a postgame interview.
“You just never give up,” Crawford said. “The game’s not over until there’s three outs in the ninth. We showed a lot of heart. This team has a lot of fight, and that’s what we do.”
Crawford, ahead 2-0 in the count, knew immediately he’d hit it out.
“Just don’t miss the fastball,” he said of his mindset in that moment. “Put a good swing on it and try to get the guy over.”
The Mariners (59-52) moved two games ahead of the Rangers (57-54) for the third and final AL wild-card spot and closed within 3.5 games in the AL West of the Houston Astros, who lost at Boston on Friday.
Thornton tore Achilles
A difficult season for Trent Thornton took a turn for the worse Friday when a medical exam confirmed the Mariners right-hander suffered a torn Achilles in the ninth inning Thursday night.
He will miss the remainder of the season.
“A big loss in ‘Thorny,’ ” M’s manager Dan Wilson said. “It’s a tough injury – the Achilles is a tough one. Our best to Thorny. He was a little emotional. It was tough.”
Thornton missed more than a month earlier this season after having emergency surgery in May because of a bout with appendicitis.
In June, Thornton had to be helped off the field at Chicago’s Wrigley Field because of heat exhaustion as temperatures soared into the high-90s.
And on the final day of July, he slipped on the T-Mobile Park mound and tore his Achilles.
“It’s been a trying year for him,” Wilson said.
Right-hander Jackson Kowar was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to take Thornton’s spot. Kowar will mostly be used in low-leverage roles.
Miller sharp in rehab start
It’s hard to imagine things going any better for Bryce Miller in his first rehab start for Triple-A Tacoma.
Pitching in 90-degree heat in Sugar Land, Texas, Seattle’s 26-year-old right-hander allowed only one hit over four scoreless innings, averaging 96.4 mph with his four-seam fastball and topping out at 97.6 mph.
He had six strikeouts with no walks on 52 pitches (42 strikes).
Miller has been on the injured list since early June because of a bone spur in the back of his pitching elbow.
Miller, in his first stint on the IL, missed three weeks in May because of the same issue in his elbow. He returned to make one start against the Los Angeles Angels on June 6, allowing five runs in five innings. He landed back on the injured list after that.
The Mariners are optimistic Miller can return to the big-league rotation at some point in the next few weeks, but president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said there is no set timeline.
“We’ll build (his) pitch count as opposed to some of what we’ve done through his last time (on the IL),” Dipoto said. “This time, we are just going to be a little bit more deliberate in building him up and making sure he’s ready to go out there and throw a full workload before we send him out.”