Jake Fraley saves the Mariners, and then delivers a win against Tigers

The Mariners had been playing poorly against the Tigers all season. They got swept, and swept ugly, in their first series against them. Then, they lost the opener in the series, with it being further apart than the final score of 5-3 indicated. Isaac Paredes looked to continue the strong play for the Tigers. Jake Fraley… well, he had other plans.

You could see the potential for a special night, and we all know that Fraley has a ton of energy. He had tried to get something going in the 8th inning. After a single, he stole second base to get into scoring position. That’s where it ended though. Fraley was far from done on the night.

Jake Fraley would make a spectacular catch to save the game for the Mariners.

Isaac Paredes stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, with one out and one man on. The game was still tied at 3-3. Steckenrider delivered the pitch, and Paredes got ahold of it, sending it deep to left field. After a bit of a funky route, Fraley leaped at the wall and robbed Paredes of a game-winning home run.

That wasn’t the end of the play though. Fraley would send a seed back to Shed Long, who would relay it back to first to turn the easy double play, sending the game into extra innings.

After a bit of back-and-forth in the 10th, the Mariners would come to the plate tied 4-4 in the 11th. After Haniger moved to third on a Seager fly-out, the Tigers would walk France, hoping to set up Fraley for the double play possibility. Instead, Fraley would lace a single, driving in Haniger and giving the Mariners a 5-4 lead.

Dillon Thomas would add two more runs on a single, followed by a two-RBI double by Crazy Eyes (Tom Murphy), giving the team a 9-4 lead. It would prove to be needed insurance, as they would go on to win 9-6.

Thanks to Jake Fraley, the Mariners head into Thursday’s game looking to win the series, instead of to avoid being swept. Let’s see if they can build on this momentum and earn a series win against the Tigers.