The Doubles: 3 Seattle two-baggers key in ALWC win
Daniel Kramer
@DKramer_TORONTO -- A late-innings double in a meaningful October game is particularly special territory in the context of the epic -- albeit brief -- postseason history for the Mariners.
Saturday marked the 27th anniversary of ¡°The Double,¡± the iconic walk-off hit from Edgar Martinez that sent Seattle to a win over the almighty Yankees in the 1995 ALDS. It¡¯s the defining moment in Martinez¡¯s Hall of Fame career, and before this week, the most defining moment in Mariners history.
But after an unprecedented comeback that culminated with a 10-9 win in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series over the Blue Jays, the 2022 Mariners are creating their own history -- and Saturday¡¯s win was full of iconic doubles, one each from Adam Frazier, Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford, that could be remembered with the same significance when it's all said and done.
¡°All season long, this team is about carving something out for themselves,¡± president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said. ¡°Now, the goal is to win 11 more games. And if we can do that, they¡¯ll be legends in Seattle. And that's what their goal has been from the very get-go is to carve out their own thing.¡±
Here¡¯s a breakdown of each double that led to one of MLB¡¯s most improbable wins this year:
Crawford¡¯s prayer to ¡®the baseball gods¡¯
Thoughts of the improbable began creeping Seattle's way through the ticketed crowd of 47,156 once Crawford stepped to the plate as the go-ahead run. But so much still had to go right for the Mariners to pull it off.
On the first pitch with two outs, Seattle¡¯s shortstop hit a sky-high fly ball into shallow center field that looked like an easy out -- until it kept creeping into no man¡¯s land. The ball landed in such a tight window and with four defenders running at it that the bang-bang play ended with Toronto center fielder George Springer and shortstop Bo Bichette colliding in a scary sequence. Springer, who was ¡°doing OK¡± after, had to be carted off.
¡°I was praying to the baseball gods to just find a hole,¡± Crawford said. ¡°Thankfully, [the ball] did, and Frazier was hauling his butt around the bases to tie the game up, and now we¡¯re here."
In postseason history, only David Ortiz (grand slam in the 2013 ALCS) had recorded a game-tying hit with three RBIs or more in the eighth inning or later ¨C and Crawford¡¯s had just a 55% hit probability.
Frazier¡¯s go-ahead dagger
With two outs and a 9-9 tie in the top of the ninth inning, Frazier was in hunt mode. He knew that Toronto's All-Star closer Jordan Romano throws his slider 51.8% of the time and that if there was one up enough in the zone that it might be his best pitch to hit.
Already 2-for-4 and moved up to the No. 6 spot in the Mariners¡¯ lineup, Frazier let a breaking ball get real deep into the strike zone then hacked it into the right-field corner, allowing Raleigh to surge from second base easily for the game-winning run.
¡°It¡¯s been since college since I've been on a winning team,¡± Frazier said. ¡°So it¡¯s been great. It's not just the past couple of weeks, it's been all year.¡±
Again, the Mariners¡¯ postseason history is limited to just 35 games, but Frazier¡¯s was Seattle¡¯s first go-ahead double in the ninth inning or later since Martinez.
Big Dumper¡¯s big layup
Easily the Mariners¡¯ hottest hitter right now, Raleigh ripped a 95.8 mph middle-up fastball from Romano and scorched it 111.4 mph off the bat with his helicopter left-handed swing, sending it into the right-center gap. With one out in the top of the ninth, it put the Mariners in business and set up Frazier for that game-tying knock.?
Dipoto, who admittedly was sorting out pitching plans for a potential Game 3 just prior, said that once he saw Raleigh reach scoring position, ¡°I knew we were going to win.¡±