SEATTLE -- Like a fair few things this season, the call on A.J. Minter¡¯s 3-0 fastball in the bottom of the ninth inning Monday did not go Mitch Garver¡¯s way.

Garver thought Minter¡¯s fastball was off the plate, but home-plate umpire Lance Barksdale called it a strike, keeping Garver in the box.

Two pitches later, Garver had less of an issue with the call.

The 33-year-old designated hitter, mired in a slump to begin his tenure with the Mariners, turned what could have been arguably Seattle¡¯s most painful offensive performance yet into a dramatic win with one swing of the bat, jumping on a 3-2 cutter and pulling it 412 feet out to left field to catapult the Mariners to a 2-1 win over the Braves at T-Mobile Park.

As Garver dropped his bat, threw his arms up in the air and began trotting around the bases for Seattle¡¯s first walk-off home run since May 28, 2023, Dave Sims¡¯ call on ROOT Sports rang true: ¡°Mitch Garver, out of the depths, comes up huge.¡±

Out of the depths, indeed.

¡°I¡¯ve been chopping some balls lately,¡± Garver said. ¡°It¡¯s just the nature of the beast. This game is brutal and unforgiving. Even if you hit it hard, it¡¯s right at somebody or it¡¯s just off the barrel.

¡°The game gives back to you at times, too.¡±

Garver, who signed the largest free-agent contract the Mariners have given to a hitter since president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto took over in 2015, has had a rough start to '24. Entering Monday¡¯s series opener against Atlanta, he was hitting .143 with 27 strikeouts in 77 at-bats. After going 1-for-17 on the Mariners¡¯ road trip at Colorado and Texas, his average dropped as low as .134.

His barrel rate crashed from 12.6% last season all the way down to 3.9%. His sweet spot rate fell to 29.4%, and his whiff rate rose to 32.6%.

But a return to Seattle -- and a new bat in his hand -- gave Garver a chance to hone in and simplify. Results trickled in, with a home run and an opposite-field double against the D-backs over the weekend.

¡°I think the best thing for me is controlling what I can control,¡± he said. ¡°I come in every single day with the same effort and attitude that I can. I cannot chase results, I cannot fight against umpires, I cannot blame people. This is me, I have to do this myself. Every time I chop a ball at the third baseman, that¡¯s all me.¡±

Monday didn¡¯t start out much better for Garver, who walked in the second -- one of just two baserunners the Mariners managed against Atlanta starter Max Fried -- before striking out twice.

But Mariners manager Scott Servais liked what he saw, particularly in an eight-pitch battle against Fried in the fourth.

It looked more like the 2023 Garver, whose 17.4% chase rate placed him in the 98th percentile of all MLB hitters, than the one with a 25.6% rate this year.

¡°The good sign for him is that he¡¯s tracking the ball,¡± Servais said. ¡°You saw his at-bats tonight, he¡¯s deep in counts, he works the walk. When he swings at the right pitches, good things happen.¡±

Garver almost didn¡¯t get the opportunity in the ninth. After being no-hit through the seventh, the Mariners finally picked up their first hit of the game on a pinch-hit single by Josh Rojas in the eighth. Seattle went on to load the bases with one out for the top of the order, but Julio Rodr¨ªguez flied out to shallow left field and Mitch Haniger struck out.

That made the eighth inning Seattle¡¯s 14th straight scoreless frame at the plate. But it also gave Garver one more shot, and after Jorge Polanco¡¯s leadoff single, he jumped on it, with the 412-foot blast coming off the bat at 107.4 mph -- his hardest-hit ball as a Mariner, and his first professional walk-off home run, including the Minors.

¡°That was pretty special for me,¡± Garver said. ¡°In a time where things aren¡¯t going my way and I¡¯m not feeling quite like myself, to be able to come through for the team in any way, shape or form is a huge 'W.' I was really happy for that.¡±