Haniger the hero! Veteran outfielder becomes Mariners' walk-off king

SEATTLE -- Mitch Haniger has become synonymous with walk-off wins during his six seasons in Seattle, and on Thursday night, he moved into the record books with the franchise-best eighth of his career. Yet his latest was arguably his most improbable, and it came at a time in a late-summer swoon where the Mariners needed it, maybe more than ever.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, Haniger ripped a 97.9 mph single in a 1-2 count that sliced into right field and was shallow enough to bait Detroit’s Ryan Vilade to dive inward and attempt a game-sealing catch. Instead, the ball nicked the bottom padding of Vilade’s glove, sailed past him into no man’s land and bounced all the way to the wall, allowing pinch-runner Ryan Bliss to score the game-winning run from first base.

And one night after the Mariners were robbed of a potential victory on a miraculous outfield catch, luck steered their way in a 4-3 decision to avoid a sweep that would’ve been equally agonizing and alarming.

“Nothing against them, but we know we're a better team than Detroit,” Haniger said. “We haven't played that way. We needed to salvage a win tonight.”

The fan-favorite Haniger moved past Jim Presley for the most walk-offs in Mariners history, after tying the record with a walk-off walk last Saturday against the Phillies. The last Mariner with two walk-off plate appearances within a six-day span was Ichiro Suzuki, who had them on consecutive days on Sept. 17-18, 2009.

Moreover, since Haniger’s first career walk-off -- a 13th-inning homer vs. Tampa Bay on June 1, 2018 -- he is tied for the MLB lead for walk-offs.

“I don't remember the first one,” Haniger said. “I remember a lot of them, but it's pretty cool. I mean, any time you're on an all-time list is awesome. I'm really blessed and grateful to play this game and to be on the list.”

Haniger, who was making his 256th career start in right field at T-Mobile Park, knows better than anyone how challenging a slicer like his can be to track down.

“That's a really tricky play, because once you commit, you've got to go dive for it,” he said. “It's a really tough play to make.”

Haniger’s heroics were set up by a swinging bunt from Raley and an opposite-field single from Randy Arozarena to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning, then a two-out walk from Jorge Polanco, who was pinch-run for by Bliss.

Raley’s chopper came in an 0-2 count and on a 91.3 mph fastball way up-and-in, with contact made off the handle of his bat. The ball – which had an exit velocity of 44.2 mph – rolled all the way down the third-base line with enough momentum to carom off the bag, and spark the rally.

Of note, Raley was in a left-on-left sequence vs. Tyler Holton. That’s a matchup that the Mariners have mostly avoided, including Wednesday’s loss, when he was pinch-hit for by Mitch Garver, who struck out on three pitches to end the game.

Earlier in the game, Raley put the Mariners on the board with a home run off lefty Bryan Sammons, just his second homer against a southpaw this season.

Raley reaching set up Arozarena, who lined an opposite-field single on a full count, and Polanco, who drew a free pass by laying off a few borderline pitches.

“I'm glad he dove for it, for our sake,” Raley said. “I think if I, if I'm out there in that situation, I'm not diving for the ball -- not because I don't want to make the play, but you let one run, maybe two runs, score.”

Thursday’s victory capped a complete turnaround from what was shaping up to be one of the Mariners’ most deflating defeats of the season, one where they only had three hits entering the ninth despite Detroit deploying a bullpen game. They were completely stymied by lefty Sammons, a 10-year Minor League journeyman who was making just his third career appearance after his contract was selected by the Tigers from Triple-A Toledo on July 29.

A loss would’ve also spoiled another strong start from Bryan Woo, who was perfect through the first four innings before a three-run hiccup in the fifth. He wound up finishing one out shy of matching a career-high seven innings, achieved in his most recent start, last Friday vs. the Phillies.

And with the Astros idle, the Mariners moved back into a tie with Houston atop the American League West.