By TIM BOOTH
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SEATTLE (AP) — Mitch Haniger walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning to score Randy Arozarena with the winning run, and the Seattle Mariners rallied from a 5-0 deficit for a 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.
Seattle handed Philadelphia its sixth straight loss, the longest losing streak for the Phillies since early in the 2023 season when they also dropped six consecutive games.
After Cal Raleigh was intentionally walked to start the inning, Carlos Estévez got Justin Turner and Jason Vosler for the first two outs, before hitting Dylan Moore to load the bases. After falling behind in the count 0-2, Haniger laid off a couple of close pitches and got the benefit of a check-swing that was called a ball. But Estévez (1-4) wasn’t close as the 3-2 pitch missed high and Seattle celebrated its sixth win in the past eight games.
“A win is a win, but hitting in a walk-off feels a little better,” Haniger joked.
It was Haniger’s seventh career walk-off, all with Seattle, tying him with Jim Presley for the most in franchise history.
Haniger drove in the final run and it was his solo home run in the fifth inning that started Seattle’s rally. But it was a four-run sixth inning off All-Star reliever Jeff Hoffman that pulled Seattle even after the Phillies had jumped out to a 5-0 advantage.
Arozarena doubled for the second time in the game and scored on Jorge Polanco’s RBI single to start the rally against Hoffman. Luke Raley entered as a pinch-hitter and lined a two-run double on the first pitch he saw. And Josh Rojas capped the inning with an infield single that scored another run. Bryce Harper dived to keep the ball from reaching the outfield and was able to recover and throw out Raley at the plate with the potential go-ahead run.
Hoffman had been scored on only four times in his 46 previous outings this season and entered the game with a 0.98 ERA.
“Just a little bit off, but he’s a guy I trust — still trust. Lefty, righty, it doesn’t matter. Just, they were on him tonight,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
Collin Snider (2-1) allowed a leadoff walk but struck out a pair in the top of the 10th to earn the victory. Six Seattle relievers combined to throw 5 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and one run.
“This time of year you have to win games like this. It’s not always pretty, but it’s everybody contributing,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “Too many times those guys who pitch in the sixth, seventh inning when you’re down by a couple of runs they kind of get overlooked. They are huge on winning teams.”
Alec Bohm drove in three runs for the Phillies, including a two-out, two-run single in the fifth inning. Brandon Marsh followed with another two-run single as the Phillies scored four times in the frame and knocked out Seattle starter Bryce Miller.
Miller lasted 4 1/3 innings and was forced to work by the Phillies lineup — including a 12-pitch battle that Harper won with a double in the fourth inning to snap an 0 for 24 skid. Miller needed 84 pitches to record 13 outs and failed to make it through the fifth for only the third time in 22 starts.
Philadelphia’s Kolby Allard followed Orion Kerkering as the opener and shut down a Seattle offense that had scored six runs or more in six of the previous seven games. Allard threw four innings, allowing only two hits and striking out four. Haniger’s homer was the only run Allard allowed.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Zack Wheeler (10-5, 2.94) allowed seven earned runs over five innings in his last start against the Mets. Wheeler allowed six earned runs in his five previous starts combined before that.
Mariners: RHP Logan Gilbert (6-7, 3.11) looks to rebound after giving up seven runs in just 2 2/3 innings in his last start against Boston.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
