Five-run ninth goes for naught as Texas Rangers fall in 11 innings, are swept by Seattle Mariners
Jason Martin swatted a three-run homer to forge an unlikely tie, but a blunder on the bases cost the Rangers in the 10th.
With the home team down five runs Thursday afternoon in the ninth inning, it was time to beat the traffic.
Many seats at Globe Life Field were vacated early, bags were packed and stories about a Seattle Mariners sweep of the Texas Rangers were written.
Then, they had to be rewritten, but the outcome remained the same.
The Rangers scored five times in the ninth inning to forge a tie, with three of coming on a two-out homer by Jason Martin, and then had a chance to win it in the 10th.
But a mistake on the bases erased having the potential winning run at third base with one out, and Ty France launched a two-run homer in the 11th off Joe Barlow as the Mariners did indeed sweep the Rangers with a 9-8 victory.
Andy Ibanez batted in the 11th as the potential winning run, but drive to center field was caught at the center-field wall to end it.
“That’s a roller-coaster of emotions,” manager Chris Woodward said. “I was really proud of us for fighting back. We didn’t really play that well up to that point.”
Jonah Heim doubled in a run in the ninth for the Rangers and Nathaniel Lowe scored on a wild pitch to trim a 7-2 deficit to 7-4. After Ibanez struck out for the second out, Martin sent a Diego Castillo slider over the right-field wall to tie it.
Barlow blew through the Mariners in the 10th, and the Rangers had runners at first and second with no outs in their half of the inning. Adolis Garcia hit a hard grounder to third base, and Seattle got the force out at second but Garcia was safe at first on a high throw.
France, though, saw that rookie Yonny Hernandez had strayed to far away from third base and surprised the rookie by throwing behind him. The Mariners had their double play after all, and the Rangers had run themselves out of their best chance to win the game.
“When you have a young, inexperienced team, you have to go through these games,” Woodward said. “You’ve got to hit him with truth. It’s a tough game, and you’re going to make mistakes. Unfortunately for him, it’s the biggest mistake he’s made on a big-league field. … He’s got to learn from it. The whole team’s got to learn from it.”
Garcia homered in the sixth and robbed a home run to end the 11th inning, and Drew Anderson allowed one run in five innings or relief after Spencer Howard allowed five runs in two innings.