SEATTLE — In his first game as a major league player, Cole Young showed a little bit of everything. He displayed aggression, patience, poise and most importantly, he got his team the win. Young hit a walk-off fielder’s choice in the bottom of the 11th inning to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday at T-Mobile Park. The Mariners improved to 31-26 with the win and took a half-game lead in the American League West with the victory.
Young finished the game 1-for-4 with the game-winning RBI.
“That was unreal,” Young said in a postgame interview. “I can’t even describe the past 24 hours. It has been insane. I never thought that I would be in situation, to hit a walk-off in my debut. That was unreal.”
Before Young’s game-winning moment, Seattle had to fight through a game that was could be simply be described as “chaotic.”
Starting pitcher Bryce Miller made his return after spending 18 days on the injured list due to right elbow inflammation. He navigated the Twins lineup well in the first inning and struck out two. Minnesota’s bats reappeared in the top of the six. Matt Wallner hit a two-run home run to give the Twins a 2-0 lead and Byron Buxton added another run with a single to give Minnesota a 3-0 advantage through two.
Cal Raleigh continued his hot streak and got the Mariners within one in the bottom of the third with a two-run shot of his own to right field. The homer was his 22nd of the season — tied with Shohei Ohtani for the most in the majors.
The chaos only continued from there. Shortly after Raleigh’s homer, fire alarms at T-Mobile Park caused a 10-minute delay in the top of the fourth, which ended up being Miller’s final inning.
Miller finished with two strikeouts, one walk and allowed three earned runs on five hits (one home run) in his four innings of work. He was on a 70-75-pitch limit and finished with 71.
“Felt good. I was glad to be back,” Miller said after the game. “It’s not very entertaining doing nothing for 18 days, or however many it was. … I think first inning was as good as it gets. That felt like the old me. … I think if I could do anything over, it would be the lead-off walk to (Carlos) Correa (in the second) and then falling behind.”
The game calmed down until the top of the seventh. Twins shortstop Correa was ejected after arguing with home plate umpire Austin Jones from the on-deck circle, and manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected after jumping into the argument. The argument seemed to stem from Correa arguing a call against third baseman Brooks Lee, who was batting.
The dramatics continued in the bottom of the seventh. J.P. Crawford hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the frame to put Seattle in front 4-3. He finished the game 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, a run and two RBIs.
Minnesota designated hitter Trevor Larnach tied the game at 4-4 in the top of the ninth after he brought home Buxton with a single.
That hit ultimately sent the game into extras. It was the third-straight extra-inning game for the Mariners. They allowed 13 earned runs in the two games prior, both losses.
Collin Snider, who allowed seven runs (five earned) in the first of those games on Friday, pitched a scoreless 10th and 11th inning, which set up Seattle for Young’s walk-off fielder’s choice.
Snider got help from his defense. Young helped turn a 5-4-3, inning-ending double play in the top of the 10th to leave a Minnesota runner stranded in scoring position. Julio Rodriguez gunned a throw from center field to home plate before the double play.
“(Young’s) a big league-player, and that’s why he’s here,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said postgame. “He made the plays, he did an outstanding job, and that’s not easy to do when it’s your first big-league game. He was able to go out there and just be Cole Young. It’s just an outstanding ball game for him and led to a big win for us.”
Seattle will hope to ride the momentum from the win into a rubber match against the Twins at 1:10 p.m. PT on Sunday. Luis Castillo will start for the Mariners and Chris Paddack will start for Minnesota.
MARINERS MANAGER DAN WILSON PRAISES COLE YOUNG AHEAD OF MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT: The Mariners skipper had kind words for former first-round draft pick ahead of his debut Saturday. CLICK HERE
MARINERS ACTIVATE STARTING PITCHER OFF IL, JETTISON PAIR OF RELIEVERS: Mariners staring pitcher Bryce Miller will make his return after a two-and-a-half week stint on the injured list. CLICK HERE
MARINERS TOP 100 PROSPECT COLE YOUNG TO MAKE HIS DEBUT: One of the Mariners most elite prospects will get his first crack at the major leagues over the weekend. CLICK HERE
Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on “X” @Teren_Kowatsch and @RefuseToLosePod. You can subscribe to the “Refuse to Lose” podcast by clicking HERE.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
