Canzone hits first walkoff as Mariners sweep White Sox
SEATTLE – In a game where it seemed like they might find any possible way to hinder a successful outcome, the Mariners still managed to pull out a victory and complete a series sweep of the Chicago White Sox.
It wasn’t easy.
The M’s were out of bench players by the 10th inning. Their batting order had Miles Mastrobuoni batting in Cal Raleigh’s spot and Dylan Moore batting in the cleanup spot in extra innings. And they had one reliever – right-hander Casey Legumina – remaining in the bullpen when the bottom of the 11th started.
But Dominic Canzone made sure those all those factors working against the Mariners wouldn’t remain an issue.
Facing lefty reliever Brandon Eisert, Canzone pulled a 2-1 slider through the right side of the infield, allowing automatic runner Eugenio Suárez to score the winning run from second base, giving Seattle a 4-3 victory.
“We talk about effort and pushing through till the end,” manager Dan Wilson said. “And our guys did it again today. Incredible effort.”
The win, which improved Seattle’s record to a season-best 10 games above .500 at 63-53, also moved the Mariners to 1.5 games behind the Astros for the lead in American League West. Houston opens a three-game series at Yankee Stadium on Friday.
A large crowd of 37,930 roared in approval as Suarez slid into home and teammates rushed the field to mob Canzone in celebration. It had been a somewhat frustrating and uneventful Wednesday afternoon spent in the sunshine of T-Mobile Park.
It was Canzone’s first walk-off hit of his career.
“I know it wasn’t pretty, but it was probably one of my favorite swings I’ve ever had,” he said. “I was lunging at it a little bit. But it all works the same.”
Two years ago or even two months ago, he might have been lifted for a pinch hitter – well, if the Mariners had anyone left on the bench – in that situation versus a left-handed pitcher. But the evolution of his approach and subsequent results has earned him the trust of Wilson to hit in those situations. He credited Kevin Seitzer and Bobby Magallanes, the Mariners hitting coaches, for improving his approach and Tacoma hitting coach Shawn O’Malley with some small tweaks to his mechanics to simplify his swing.
“I’ve just had a lot of help from a lot of great different minds,” he said. “It’s just been awesome from the hardships being sent down to Triple-A and just trying to grind through it to where we are now.”
Since being called up from Tacoma on June 9, Canzone is batting .293 (43-for-147) with an on-base plus slugging percentage over .850.
“The thing that strikes me most is ability against left-handed pitchers at this point,” Wilson said. “He has had some really good at bats against lefties, today, being one of those again. That’s tough to do in a clutch situation. We’ve seen that time and time again from him – not chasing and he’s been finding the barrel with a lot of consistency.”
Seattle jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the third inning when Randy Arozarena smashed a two-run homer into Edgar’s Cantina off White Sox All-Star Shane Smith.
The Mariners got an effective, if not lengthy outing, from starter Logan Gilbert. The lanky right-hander pitched five innings, allowing one run on two hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
The lone run allowed came in the fifth inning when Gilbert left a 2-2 splitfinger over the middle of the plate to Michael A. Taylor. The veteran outfielder took advantage of the mistake, hitting his second solo homer in as many games. Perhaps more galling for Gilbert was that he thought he’d thrown strike three on the previous pitch, placing a fastball barely off the outside corner.
But the Mariners’ lead and Gilbert’s chance for a win ended in the top of the seventh when Carlos Vargas served up a lead-off homer to Brooks Baldwin that tied the game at 2-2.
Seattle had plenty of chances to take the lead or win the game over the final innings. But with Josh Naylor removed from the lineup due to left shoulder discomfort after his second at-bat, the lineup lost a major presence.
Seattle stranded runners in the sixth and seventh and squandered the somewhat curious decision to have Cole Young sacrifice bunt as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning with runners on first and second and no outs. Suarez, who has struggled since returning to the Mariners, struck out for the second out. Right-hander Grant Taylor intentionally walked Jorge Polanco with first base open and then struck out Mitch Garver swinging to end the inning.
Chicago grabbed the lead in the top of the 10th when Garver couldn’t handle a fastball from Eduard Bazardo with a runner on third base.
The Mariners got a break in the bottom of the 10th. Down a run, Mastrobuoni led off the inning with a sac bunt to move Arozarena, the automatic runner, to third base. However, former Mariners Josh Rojas overthrew first baseman Curtis Mead, allowing Arozarena to score on the play. When Mastrobuoni stole third with one out and Moore at the plate, the Mariners had a prime chance to win the game. Instead, Moore struck out looking, and Suarez flew out to left to end the inning.
Jackson Kowar got the win in relief, pitching a scoreless top of the 11th.