Mariners News: Guti Walks-Off Jays in Series Finale

Franklin Gutierrez is a bad man. He’s been a bad man since 2009 when he came to the Mariners.

He’s been a fan favorite ever since he arrived, as the fans have stuck with him throughout the health concerns and injuries.

And today, once again, Franklin Gutierrez rewarded the fans for their patience with him, blasting a walk-off homer on an 0-2 count in the bottom of the 10th inning. The M’s beat the Blue Jays, 6-5, to move to 46-53. The Mariners are now 6.5 back in the wild card chase and 9.5 back in the AL West race.

Before the Gutierrez home run, the Mariners overcame a subpar Taijuan Walker and lack of clutch hitting. They turned a nifty triple play, which you can see/read about here, and they got some offensive production from Austin Jackson, Brad Miller, and Mike Zunino!

Walker went 6 innings and battled through control issues. He gave up four runs, three earned, but was constantly behind in the count. He had three walks and relied on his curveball to get him through moreso than he has in months.

The M’s trailed 4-1 after two innings, but pushed through two runs in the third on a single by Austin Jackson, who also led off the game with a homer, and a single by Nelson Cruz. The M’s wasted more chances that inning to get more runs, and trailed 4-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, Mike Zunino nearly hit a go-ahead two-run homer, only to have it robbed by Ezequiel Carrera, who then led off the seventh with a homer off of David Rollins to make it 5-3.

It was 5-3 in the bottom of the seventh, until the Boomstick came to the plate and did this:

Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Zunino singled for his third hit of the day, and the M’s couldn’t get him over as Austin Jackson flew out after failing to get a bunt down. Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz were then retired.

In the 10th, Joe Beimel worked a scoreless inning to help a heavily-taxed bullpen, and then Guti provided the fun at the end.

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Still within striking distance in the wild card chase, the M’s welcome the subpar Diamondbacks (45-51) to Safeco Field this week. This Blue Jays win could be the kind of win that keeps the Mariners afloat and keeps them players in the postseason picture.

Go M’s!

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Next: Mariners Turn Bizarre Triple Play