Steven Kwan’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning plated Brayan Rocchio with the winning run and completed a four-run rally by the Cleveland Guardians, who beat the visiting Seattle Mariners 5-4 on Friday night.
Rocchio tied the game with a single that scored Nolan Jones, then came around on Kwan’s fly to center field off Mariners closer Andres Munoz (3-2). It was Cleveland’s second straight walk-off win and third consecutive victory.
Tim Herrin (5-3) tossed one inning for the win, which pulled the Guardians within four games of Seattle for the third and final American League wild-card position.
Jorge Polanco’s two-run shot onto the home run porch in left gave Seattle a 4-0 lead in the first inning, scoring Julio Rodriguez. Rodriguez and Eugenio Suarez each singled in runs as the Mariners collected five hits and a walk in the frame against Logan Allen.
The Guardians sliced their deficit to 4-2 on solo homers by Kyle Manzardo in the sixth and Nolan Jones in the seventh. Jones went deep for the second straight game after homering three times in his first 115 contests.
Angel Martinez’s RBI single in the eighth off Matt Brash pulled Cleveland within 4-3.
Mariners starter George Kirby gave up two runs on six hits over seven innings. The right-hander struck out six and did not issue a walk.
After the shaky first, Allen worked six innings, allowing four runs on six hits with three walks. The left-hander struck out five in wrapping up a winless August, going 0-1 with a 5.96 ERA in five starts.
Guardians shortstop Gabriel Arias exited in the second inning after being hit on the right hand by a Kirby pitch, but X-rays revealed no fractures.
The Mariners played one man down as outfielder Victor Robles began a seven-game suspension. He threw his bat at a pitcher on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma.
A near-sellout crowd of 32,012 was in attendance as Cleveland welcomed back 12 members of the 1995 Indians, who beat Seattle in the AL Championship Series. The starting catcher on that Mariners squad is Seattle’s current manager, Dan Wilson.
–Field Level Media
