Mariners walk Ohtani in 9th, hold off Angels to keep pace

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Ty France homered, Jake Fraley scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error and the streaking Seattle Mariners held off the Los Angeles Angels 6-5 Friday night to keep pace in the AL wild-card chase.

Clinging to a one-run lead in the ninth inning, the Mariners made an unconventional move. They walked Shohei Ohtani intentionally with nobody on and one out, putting the potential tying run on base.

Ohtani advanced to third on Phil Gosselin’s double, and an intentional walk to Jared Walsh loaded the bases. Paul Sewald then struck out Jack Mayfield and got Jose Rojas on a grounder to first for his 11th save.

“He’s had a phenomenal season. It’s not normal baseball etiquette to put the tying run on in the ninth, but in that situation, I thought it was worth a shot,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “But at the end of the day you trust Paul to get through it and he executed his pitches and did a great job.

“So it’s not conventional. But we’re the Mariners 2021. We’re really not conventional, so why not?”

The Mariners won their season-high sixth straight and remained two games behind the New York Yankees for the second AL wild card. Seattle is tied with Toronto at 85-69 after the Blue Jays lost to Minnesota.

“I think for us we’ve been pretty consistent all year. We never get too high or too low,” France said. “No one thought we would be in this situation, so why change our mentality because we are this close in the race?”

Ohtani, third in the majors with 45 home runs, added another impressive feat in a remarkable season. The two-way superstar from Japan drew four walks in five plate appearances and tied a major league record with 11 in a three-game span. Bryce Harper set the mark during the 2016 season with Washington.

“The team’s in a playoff hunt...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Mariners-walk-Ohtani-in-9th-hold-off-Angels-to-16486655.php