The Mariners rally to subdue the A’s

by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Seattle Mariners Leonys Martin hits a two run walk off homer to lead the M’s to a one run win over the Oakland A’s at Safeco Field on Tuesday night

The Seattle Mariners rallied from a three-run deficit to score two runs in the eighth and two runs in the ninth to beat the A’s 6-5 Tuesday night in Seattle. The A’s Kendall Graveman went for the A’s and pitched fairly well, but Bob Melvin took him out with one-out in the bottom of the fifth. Graveman walked a batter and then gave up a single. Melvin removed him as the next batter was Robinson Cano and Melvin brought in the lefty, Daniel Coloumbe, to pitch to Cano. Coloumbe was up to the task and retired the side without any damage. The scoring summary follows below.

The Mariners scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first. Robinson Cano doubled to drive in former Athletic, Seth Smith. The A’s tied the game in the top of the third when Coco Crisp hit a solo home run. For Crisp, it was his fourth of the year. The Tie didn’t last long as the Mariners scored again in their half of the inning.Singles by Leonys Martin and Seth Smith put men on at first and second with no out. Cano grounded into a double play, but Nelson Cruz singled to give the Mariners a 2-1 edge.

The A’s drove Nathan Karns out of the game in the sixth. They scored four times to put the A’s up 5-2. Khris Davis drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Marcus Semien doubled to drive in a run and Coco singled with the bases loaded to drive in two more.

The game was now in the hands of the bullpen. Sean Doolittle retired the Mariners in the seventh. The A’s brought in John Axford to pitch the eighth. The Mariners’ Franklin Gutierrez double off the center-field wall to start the inning. The next hitter was the ever-dangerous Robinson Cano. Cano entered the game leading the AL with forty RBIs. He added two more to that total when he took Axford’s offering over the right-center-field wall to make it a 5-4 game. Melvin removed Axford and used Rzepczynski and Rodriguez to close out the eighth. Ryan Madson was brought in to pitch the ninth. Madson had been 11-for-12 in save opportunities so far this season. He retired the first two batters he faced. Nori Aoki blooped a double down the left-field line. Crisp made a valiant effort to catch the ball, but it just eluded him. Madson had a count of 1-2 on Leonys Martin. The A’s were just one strike away from a victory. Martin killed that thought when he blasted a home run into the seats in right field. The Mariners win in a walk off 6-5.

Game Notes- Ryan Madson took the loss, and the winning pitcher was Mike Montgomery, who pitched 3 and 1/3rd innings of relief for Seattle. The A’s and the Mariners will play the rubber game of the three-game series Wednesday night in Seattle. The A’s will send Zach Neal to the mound and he will be opposed by Hisashi Iwakuma. Game time will be at 7:05 PM. The A’s are off on Thursday and return home to face the Detroit Tigers this weekend.

 

 

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