SEATTLE — And now bring on Chris Sale.
In a game where they needed to secure a series win over Boston, the Mariners squandered scoring opportunities early when the sun was still lingering and late in the darkness when game went to extra innings.
And yet 4 hours and 59 minutes after the first pitch at 12:09 a.m. on Wednesday morning, Guillermo Heredia raced home with the game-winning after Jean Segura’s ground-ball single up the middle.
It might have been the win of the year for the Mariners, who gave up the go-ahead run in the top of the 13th only to score a run on a wild pitch and then the Segura single to improve to 51-51.
Now the Mariners will face the American League’s best pitcher and Cy Young favorite on Wednesday in the series finale with the series win in their pocket. Beating Sale isn’t something you’d want to bet your life savings on since he’s 12-4 with a .258 ERA. Meanwhile, the Mariners are countering with rookie Andrew Moore and a fatigued bullpen. But the middle of game of the series proved odd things can happen.
After a crisp 4-0 win on Monday, it was obvious that the best way to a coveted series win was to beat left-hander Drew Pomeranz in the middle game of the series and then hope for magic against Sale to steal a sweep.
And Pomeranz did plenty to help the Mariners do that, putting runners on base and going deep in counts to almost every batter.
Yet the Mariners only garnered a 3-0 lead off him despite his struggles.
In the second inning, Heredia turned on an 0-1 fastball, yanking it down the left-field line for a three-run homer. The Mariners got no more against Pomeranz, squandering opportunities and stranding runners in scoring position in the third and fourth inning.
Still, given a 3-0 lead, Felix Hernandez seemed poised to give Seattle a solid start. He cruised through the first three innings without allowing a run.
Hernandez allowed Hanley Ramirez to shave a run off the lead with two outs in the fourth inning. Hernandez misplaced a 1-1 slider over the middle of the plate that was repurposed by Ramirez into a line drive off the scoreboard above the bullpens in left-center.
It was the third straight start Hernandez allowed a long ball, this one making the score 3-1.
His start fell apart in the sixth inning when his command of his secondary pitches disappeared and an unwillingness to challenge hitters with his fastball became noticeable.
Hernandez issued a leadoff walk to touted rookie Rafael Devers in his second big-league plate appearance and then walked Andrew Benitendi with one out after being up 0-2 in the count. And like so often for any pitcher, the free passes came back to hurt Hernandez. After going up 1-2 on Dustin Pedroia, Hernandez couldn’t put him away and left a slider over the middle that was turned into a two-run double.
With two outs and Pedroia on second, Hernandez left a changeup up at the belt to Jackie Bradley Jr., who lined a single up the middle to score Pedroia. It ended Hernandez’s outing.
