Mariners win extra innings game on wild walk off by Mitch Haniger

Many Mariners fans were upset with how the series ended against the Washington Nationals. A two-game split wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but against the worst team in baseball, it’s a series that you hope to take advantage of. With the Cleveland Guardians in town, the Mariners have their hands full with the AL Central leaders. Thanks to Mitch Haniger, they are taking care of business in this series.

We will save the recap of everything that happens in the series until after. We are focusing on the extra-innings win, courtesy of Mitch Haniger.

Mitch Haniger came through in the clutch to get the Mariners the win

The Guardians would score in the 3rd, and the Mariners would answer with a sac fly by JP Crawford to drive Santana in during the 5th inning to tie it back up at 1-1. The Guardians jumped back out in the 6th, but again, the Mariners would hit a sac fly to tie it at 2-2. This time by Ty France, scoring Eugenio Suarez.

The 9th inning ended up being a bit scary for both teams. Andres Gimenez would lead off with a double for Cleveland. A ground out, a fly out, and a foul out would get the Mariners out of the jam. Haniger would lead off the bottom of the 9th with a slick double and some fancy handiwork to get into second safely. Unfortunately, Suarez and Santana would each strikeout. A fantastic save by Freeman down the line on a grounder would hold Haniger at third, and Frazier would reach first.

I thought we would have a chance at a dumper walk-off, but he would ground out to second and the Mariners would be heading to extra innings.

Festa would induce an inning-ending double play to get out of the 10th, and the Mariners would be in a great chance to win after Crawford sacrificed Raleigh to third. Again, the M’s were unable to convert the opportunity and would end the inning with runners on second and third.

The M’s would squeak out of plenty of trouble in the 11th, not allowing a runner to score, nailing Rosario at home. They’d head to the 11th and decided enough was enough. Haniger was the first one up and was looking to rip a shot somewhere again, just like he did in the 9th. With a 2-0 count, Mitch would rope a ball to right. Moore would come running around third, and…

THE MARINERS WIN!!!!!

Mitch Haniger has been great since he came back from the IL and proved it again in the Mariners 3-2 win over Cleveland. With a slash line of .319/.380/.514, he already has four home runs and 11 RBI in his 18 games since coming back. It’s exactly what the Mariners offense needed, and if they can get Julio, Haniger, and France all hitting well at the same time, this team is going to be dangerous all year.

This gets the Mariners to 69-57, tying their best mark on the year at 12 games above 500. They are also tied with the Rays for the top Wild Card spot, just a half-game up on the Blue Jays for the final spot, with the Orioles two games back of the Jays.