PHOENIX: The Mariners arrived in the desert this weekend and achieved what they set out to do: sweep the humble D-backs and gain ground in the American League Wild Card race. Kyle Seager was an important reason for that.
A day after getting a pair of three-run homers, Seager hit a two-run double that resulted in a seven-run concentration in the eleventh inning and hit Seattle with a 10-4 victory Sunday in the late at Chase Field. The Mariners (75-62) have won five straight games tied in the high season and six of the last seven, and have improved to the top 13 games of the season above 500.
Boston lost to Cleveland, so the Mariners are just three games behind the Red Sox for their second AL Wild Card berth with 25 games to play. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays swept a three-game series against the A this weekend, which left the two clubs four behind Boston.
With the game tied at 3 entering the eleventh, Seattle loaded the bases on the consecutive walks of Mitch Haniger and Ty France. Seager, who entered the day with MLB’s 29 best RBI this season, put the Mariners in the lead. Abraham Toro and Tom Murphy each added RBI singles, Jake Bauers threw a double-throw double, and Haniger attacked an RBI hit.
After Chris Flexen allowed three runs in six innings, the Mariners ’bullring closed the D bibs, with five relievers combining to throw five dominant innings, allowing only one undefeated run in the 11th (via the automatic score of the runner).