Smoak guides Mariners with offense, defense
SEATTLE – A half-inning inning after Justin Smoak gave the Seattle Mariners the lead, he saved the game.
Officially, it was closer Fernando Rodney who got the save in the Mariners’ 6-5 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night at Safeco Field.
But it was Smoak who saved Rodney, at the exact moment it looked as if the Rangers were going to retake the lead.
Rodney, staked to a 6-3 lead to start the ninth inning after the Mariners had scored four in the bottom of the eighth, walked in a pair of runs and the bases were still loaded when Adrian Beltre came to the plate with one out.
On a 1-1 count, Beltre hit a line shot down the first-base line that seemed destined to be a bases-clearing double. But Smoak made a fully extended snare, then stepped on first base to double up Elvis Andrus and end the game.
In the bottom of the eighth, Smoak came up with the bases loaded and no one out and the Mariners down 3-2.
In the past, he might have panicked when he fell behind in the count. In the past, he might have swung over the 2-2 curveball that was an inside by a few inches. In the past, the moment might have been too big for him.
But not this time.
Smoak delivered the winning hit for his team, jumping on a 3-2 fastball from Texas reliever Neal Cotts and lining it into left field to spark the Mariners’ rally.
When Robinson Cano and pinch-runner Michael Saunders crossed home plate on the Smoak double for the tying and go-ahead runs, they represented the first runs the Mariners scored in the eighth inning all season. With the walk-off win on Wednesday, Seattle won back-to-back games for the first time since the series sweep of the Angels to start the season.
Seattle got some key insurance runs after Smoak’s double to provide some cushion for Rodney, who ended up needing it. Kyle Seager continued his hot hitting, dumping a single into left to score another run. Smoak later scored on wild pitch from Alexi Ogando to make it 6-3.
The Mariners got a solid start from lefty Roenis Elias. The rookie starter pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
Lead-off base runners hurt Elias in the early innings. He gave up a lead-off double to J.P. Arencibia to start the third inning. It snapped a 0-for-16 streak for Arencibia, dating back to April 6. Rangers manager Ron Washington played small ball, having Leonys Martin sacrifice bunt Arencibia to third. A wild pitch from Elias allowed Arencibia to trot home for the first run.
In the fourth inning, a lead-off walk to Elvis Andrus proved costly. Beltre immediately followed with a shot to center that go over the head of Abraham Almonte for a double, scoring Andrus to make it 2-0.
After failing to come through in a similar situation two innings before, Cano delivered a key hit in the fifth. With two outs and runners on first and second, Cano hit a double to left-center scoring Almonte and Willie Bloomquist to tie the score.