Rocchio, Kwan lead late rally to lift Guardians over Mariners

CLEVELAND (AP) — Brayan Rocchio singled in Nolan Jones with the tying run, then scored on Steven Kwan’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning in the Cleveland Guardians' 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Jones led off the ninth with a double and came around on Rocchio’s soft hit to left, with left fielder Randy Arozarena throwing the ball away to allow Rocchio to advance to third.

Tim Herrin (5-3) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory that pulled Cleveland within four games of Seattle for the final AL wild-card position. Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz (3-2) recorded one out and gave up two runs, one unearned.

The Guardians trailed 4-0 after five innings before Kyle Manzardo homered in the sixth and Jones added another solo shot in the seventh, both off George Kirby. Angel Martínez pulled the Guardians to 4-3 in the eighth, singling home José Ramírez.

The Mariners scored four times in the first against Logan Allen. Julio Rodríguez and Eugenio Suárez drove in runs before Jorge Polanco cleared the fence in left with his 21st home run of the season.

Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, who leads the majors with 50 homers, went 0 for 1 with three walks. Outfielder Victor Robles began serving a seven-game suspension for throwing his bat at a pitcher on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma.

Key moment

Mariners relievers Matt Brash and Muñoz allowed three runs, two earned, while combining for four outs. They gave up three hits and a pair of walks after entering to begin the eighth.

Key stat

Guardians third baseman Ramírez doubled in the first inning for his 826th hit at Progressive Field, becoming the career leader at the 31-year-old ballpark. Omar Vizquel is second with 825.

Up next

Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert (4-5, 3.69 ERA) was set to face RHP Gavin Williams (8-5, 3.36 ERA) on Saturday night.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb