Mariners top A’s 4-2, close in on second AL wild card
SEATTLE — Mitch Haniger hit his 100th home run and third in two games, and the Seattle Mariners pulled within a half-game of the second AL wild card berth by beating the Oakland Athletics 4-2 on Tuesday night.
Tyler Anderson pitched four innings on two days’ rest for the Mariners, who won their teamrecord 11th straight game over Oakland. Seattle has won four in a row and nine of 10.
Haniger hit his third homer of the series into the left-field bullpen in the seventh inning after hitting two nearly identical three-run shots in Monday’s 13-4 win. His 38 homers and 95 RBIs are career highs, coming after he missed much of 2019 and all of 2020 due to two operations.
“I got a little emotional,” Haniger said, tearing up with reporters. “It took so much time to come back. … A lot of missed time, a lot of pain, not really being able to walk for a little bit, and kind of being pretty much broken, and being able to come back, it’s been fun.”
Seattle (88-70) is just behind Boston (88-69) and just ahead of Toronto (87-70) in the wild-card race, trailing the New York Yankees (90-67). The Mariners finish their series against the A’s today, then host the Los Angeles Angels for their final three games of the regular season.
Seattle would be eliminated from the AL West race with one more loss or one win by first-place Houston (92-65).
Oakland (85-73) is 3 1/2 games back of the Red Sox and in must-win territory.
“Look, we’ve played what, 15 games in a row here?” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Our bullpen’s a little bit shot, but we need to come out and win a game tomorrow and make everybody feel a lot better about the way things have gone with them.”
Casey Sadler set the team record with his 26th straight scoreless appearance, getting the Mariners out of a jam in the fifth with two on. He pitched 1 1/3 innings with a strikeout.
Anthony Misiewicz (5-5) and four relievers combined to give up one unearned run over five innings. Drew Steckenrider allowed a leadoff single in the ninth, then got three straight outs as he struck out two for his 12th save in 15 chances.
No. 8 hitter Jake Fraley had a go-ahead two-run double against Yusmeiro Petit (8-3) in the fourth, and No. 9 hitter Tom Murphy drove in a run for the Mariners in their 40th comeback win.