2022 Key Mariners Moments: Extra Inning Thriller vs Yankees

In early August 2022, the Mariners were in the thick of the playoff hunt and had a tough series at home that would prove that they were near the top of the American League. The team that they were hosting was the New York Yankees, a team that had a scorching hot start to the season and was still in first place in their division. 

After losing the first game of the series 4-9, Luis Castillo took the bump for the Mariners in hopes of locking down the potent Bronx lineup. Locking down the lineup is exactly what he and a couple of relievers did. It was a 13-inning thriller that ended with a Luis Torrens walk-off RBI single. But why was this walk-off, in particular, remarkable and noteworthy? 

Mariners v Yankees: The Yankees 

The team they hosted was a major factor in why the win was big. Coming in, the Yankees were 70-40 and were on pace for over 100 wins. Earlier in the year, they were on pace to break the win record, and while they had cooled off a little since then, they were still a top team in the American League. 

Over the entire season, they were second in the MLB and first in the AL in runs per game with 4.89. So not only for the Mariners to beat them, but beat them in front of a large audience and shut down their lineup, it proved that they were not a team to be messed with as the MLB neared the end of the regular season. 

Mariners v Yankees: The Pitching Duel

Both teams used a plethora of pitchers to get through all 13 innings of work, with the Mariners using five pitchers and the Yankees using seven. The two starters were Luis Castillo for Seattle and Gerrit Cole for New York.

Castillo, the team’s big addition during the season, went 8.0 innings giving up only three hits to seven strikeouts. His start brought his ERA on the season down to 2.71. After Castillo, Andres Munoz threw one scoreless inning, Paul Sewald went one inning and Matthew Festa also went one. Finally, the winning pitcher was Matt Brash, who threw the final two scoreless innings. 

For the Yankees, Gerrit Cole went 7.0 scoreless with eight strikeouts and brought his season ERA to 3.38. Then, for the next 5.0 innings, the New York staff gave up just one more hit until they eventually lost the game in the bottom of the 13th. 

Mariners v Yankees: The Walk-off 

After a pitched duel for the ages, Luis Torrens finally knocked in the winning run as he hit a single that drove in Eugenio Suarez of Jonathan Loaisiga.  Sadly for Torrens, he was designated for assignment two days later, on Aug. 11, 2022. 

In describing the game and its impact, Mariners manager Scott Servais described it as one of the best he has ever been a part of. 

"“Baseball’s not a boring game... I’ve been at a lot of major-league games. I’ve been in a lot of major-league games. And that was one of the best games I’ve ever seen.”"

- Scott Servais

The game as a whole showed that the team up in the PNW was legit and could compete with the best teams in the world. It also showed just how fun the team was.