Aug 9, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager (15) hits an three-run homer against the Detroit Tigers during the eighth inning at Safeco Field. Photo Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
SEATTLE — Kyle Seager delivered score-tying hits in the eighth and 15th innings before Seattle teammate Mike Zunino drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the 15th as the Mariners rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 6-5 Tuesday night.
Seager’s three-run homer in the eighth inning tied the score 4-4, and he added a one-out, RBI single in the bottom of the 15th, deadlocking the game at 5. An error by Detroit left fielder Justin Upton allowed baserunner Adam Lind to move to third, and Lind scored easily on Zunino’s fly ball to center.
The throw from Tigers center fielder Tyler Collins was way off target as Lind slid across the plate to give the Mariners (59-53) another walk-off win. The game lasted 4 hours, 51 minutes.
Victor Martinez gave the Tigers a 5-4 lead with a leadoff home run in the top of the 15th inning. Martinez’s 400-foot shot was his 20th home run of the season, and it came off Ariel Miranda, a converted starter who was supposed to pitch this Friday at Oakland.
The teams combined to use 16 pitchers in the game.
Closer Francisco Rodriguez, the eighth Detroit pitcher of the night, blew the save and took the loss. Rodriguez (1-3) was charged with two runs, only one of them earned.
Miranda (1-0) got the win after yielded two hits and one run in his lone inning.
Seattle extended its winning streak to a season-high five games while staying within 2 1/2 of Boston in the wild-card standings. Detroit (61-52) dropped a game behind the Red Sox and is now 3 1/2 back in the American League Central standings.
The Tigers had a chance to win the game in the top of the 14th inning, when two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. However, shortstop Jose Iglesias struck out, and then Miguel Cabrera swung at the first pitch and popped out to right to end the threat.
Tigers starter Daniel Norris, recalled from Triple-A over the weekend, survived a rocky outing and got a lot of help from the Detroit bullpen in the sixth. Norris gave up three consecutive singles to open that inning, loading the bases before handing the ball over to the bullpen. Alex Wilson came on and got the Tigers out of the jam without allowing a run, closing the book on Norris after he allowed seven hits and one run over five innings.
Wilson barely avoided disaster when pinch hitter Lind hammered a bases-loaded pitch down the right field line — only to watch it drift foul by a foot or two.
Cabrera went 3-for-6 but was hitless in his final three at-bats. He struck out on a 100 mph Edwin Diaz fastball to end the top of the ninth and flied out to right with the bases loaded to end the threat in the 14th.
Seager, Guillermo Heredia and Robinson Cano had three hits apiece for Seattle. Detroit’s J.D. Martinez finished 3-for-7.
Mariners relievers Nick Vincent, Vidal Nuno, Diaz, Arquimedes Caminero, Drew Storen and Tom Wilhelmsen combined to throw nine scoreless innings before Miranda served up a home run that ended a streak of 17 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings by Seattle relievers.
Detroit reliever Justin Wilson threw three scoreless innings.
Cabrera drove in runs with a first-inning single and a third-inning solo homer as the Tigers jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
Detroit opened the game with four consecutive hits, opening up a 2-0 lead in the first. Cabrera and Victor Martinez had RBI singles in back-to-back at-bats before Seattle starter Wade LeBlanc got out of the inning.
Detroit added two more singles but stranded both runners in the second. Cabrera led off the third inning by hitting a 1-2 pitch from LeBlanc 392 feet into the bullpen in left field.
The Mariners finally got on the board in the fourth, when Nelson Cruz followed a Cano double with an RBI double to cut the deficit to 3-1.
The Tigers got that run back on J.D. Martinez’s leadoff homer in the top of the fifth.
LeBlanc allowed four runs on 10 hits over five innings before the Mariners went to their bullpen.
NOTES: Detroit CF Cameron Maybin (thumb) will be placed on the 15-day disabled list, manager Brad Ausmus said before Tuesday’s game. Maybin has been out since last Thursday, and Ausmus said that the most recent tests revealed a Grade 2 sprain. … Seattle SS Ketel Marte was in the lineup after being activated from the disabled list Tuesday. To make room for Marte, the Mariners optioned INF Michael Freeman to Triple-A Tacoma. … The Tigers claimed RHP Donn Roach, a reliever who was designated for assignment by the Mariners over the weekend, off waivers. Roach was assigned to Triple-A Toledo, and the Tigers designated RHP Jeff Ferrell for assignment. … Seattle hopes to get LHP James Paxton back throwing as soon as Wednesday, and he is listed as Saturday’s starter at Oakland. Paxton took a line drive off his left elbow on Sunday, but there was no structural damage. He is scheduled to have a light throwing session Wednesday afternoon.
