The Seattle Mariners defeated the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Wednesday at T-Mobile Park, thanks to consecutive hits from Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor in the bottom of the ninth. Oakland's Nick Kurtz had tied the game with a solo home run earlier in the top of the ninth off Andrés Muñoz. The victory allowed Seattle to avoid a sweep after the Athletics took the first two games of the series.
Seattle trailed 4-3 entering the top of the ninth, but Kurtz smashed a 438-foot solo home run to center field on a hanging slider from Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz, forcing extra action in the bottom half. There, with two outs, Raleigh singled on a first-pitch fastball, Rodríguez pulled one past a diving Jacob Wilson, and Naylor punched a hit into the opposite field off Joel Kuhnel for the walk-off winner. It marked Naylor's first career walk-off hit with the Mariners, who improved to 11-15 while the Athletics fell to 13-12, still tied for first in the AL West. Manager Mark Kotsay praised his team's resilience after a 16-games-in-16-days stretch: “They believe in themselves until the last out, and it showed again today.” A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson added, “This was a huge series for us, even if we lost the last game.” Earlier, Mariners starter Logan Gilbert endured a bizarre first inning when a 107.8 mph liner from Carlos Cortes lodged in his jersey between the buttons. Umpires ruled it a hit per MLB rules on balls in uniforms, loading the bases and contributing to three runs charged to Gilbert over four innings. “It was just a blur,” Gilbert said. “I thought it was coming from my face for a second.” Kurtz also extended his walk streak to 13 games with a first-inning free pass against Gilbert.
