Chaos Ball Emerges again in Mariners Extra-Inning Win

For those lamenting the lack of offense that has been displayed by the Mariners lately, last night probably quenched that thirst a little bit. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the M’s that were putting up runs, as Texas decided to get in on the party as well. Neither team had scored more than eight runs in a game before the season finale between these two teams and yet they both accomplished that feat Thursday night.

Are you ready? Cause things are about to get crazy. Here we go.

The Mariners needed every bit of offense they could find to overpower the Rangers

The Mariners got to Jon Gray early, as Mitch Haniger DESTROYED a ball, hitting it 109 mph and 442 feet. That’s actually the furthest ball that’s been hit in Seattle this year, and you could tell it was demolished off the bat.

That would be the start of the home run barrage that was put on in the finale. Unfortunately, Texas wanted in on the fun. Taking advantage of Marco Gonzales and his proclivity to give up the long ball, Sam Huff, Marcus Semien, and Adolis Garcia would ALL go yard in the third, and the Rangers took a 4-2 lead. With that third homer, Marco set a new career high in HR allowed, having now given up 30 on the season.

Haniger wasn’t done yet though. Realizing that home runs are fun to hit, he would pull one down the line in the bottom of the third, even if it was about 100 feet shorter, for his second two-run bomb of the night, making it 4-4.

The Mariners also have this kid named Jarred Kelenic. Yes, he’s still a kid even though so many people have already given up on him. Side note – if you have, I don’t like you. HE’S ONLY 23! Anyway, September Kelenic is a different animal. He saw what Haniger did and thought “Hmmmm, home runs. Those look fun. Let me try.”

Boom… Boom.

That’s right. He didn’t just want one homer… he wanted two as well. A two-run in the fourth and a solo in the 6th, and it was now 7-4 Mariners. If you’re keeping track, that’s seven home runs hit so far in the game.

Notice how I said, “so far”. Yeah, it kept going.

Marcus Semien got in on the two home run fun, hitting another in the 7th. Nate Lowe would go yard as well to make it 7-6 Mariners, and things were all of a sudden getting tight. The Mariners bullpen hasn’t been as rock solid lately. Maybe it’s the looming postseason pressure and the Want to break the drought, but it’s been a little tough lately out of the pen.

The Rangers got another run in the 8th, this being their first not supplied by the long ball, and it was 7-7. The 9th would be just the third inning of the ninth without any runs scored, and we were heading to extra innings.

With the runner starting on second base, games have been finishing a lot quicker than they had in the past. The Rangers jumped at the opportunity with a one-out single and took the 8-7 lead. Swanson got out of it, and it was the Mariners with a chance to come back in the bottom of the inning. Suarez ripped a single, hitting it so hard that Haggerty had to stop at third. A Raleigh sac fly would tie it at 8, and we were treated to even more baseball.

The Rangers got their guy in thanks to small ball, as a sac bunt and sac fly would score him. I think the Mariners were getting tired of all this and decided to make the 11th the last inning. They would do it in a quick fashion as well.

Dylan Moore, single. Luis Torrens, rbi single. JP Crawford, rbi walk-off single. The Mariners would win another chaos-filled game, taking the series finale 10-9. This also gets their magic number down to 1, meaning we are as close as we can get to finally breaking the drought.

It was an incredible game and one that somehow went much faster than you would’ve thought. The Mariners brought in Haggerty, Toro, Santana, and Torrens off the bench while using eight pitchers. The Rangers brought in three off the bench and used six pitchers. 19 runs, 25 hits, 9 walks, 11 innings, and it only took 3:48. A game like that easily could’ve taken 4:30. It was worth every minute though.

We are almost there everyone. One more game could do it. Go Mariners!