SEATTLE (AP) — Colt Emerson singled to right in the ninth inning to score pinch-runner Stuard Fairchild from third for the Seattle Mariners’ second straight walk-off victory over the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 on Sunday.
The Mariners had blown a 6-0 lead as the Twins scored five runs in the eighth, then tied it on Luke Keaschall’s leadoff homer in the ninth.
Josh Naylor led off the Seattle ninth with a single to right. After Cal Raleigh struck out, Victor Robles drilled a shot to center. Naylor scrambled all the way to third, beating the throw with a hard slide, and Robles took second. Naylor was shaken up on the slide, but walked off the field under his own power and was replaced by Fairchild, who came up from Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday.
Emerson then sent a 1-2 pitch off the glove of first baseman Victor Caratini, and Fairchild scored easily.
George Kirby, who has been mentioned in trade rumors throughout the weekend leading up to Monday’s trading deadline, pitched seven shutout innings for Seattle. He scattered five hits, all singles, striking out three and walking just one.
Reliever Andres Munoz (5-4) picked up the win despite giving up the game-tying homer on his second pitch of the ninth.
Yoendrys Gomez (2-1) took the loss for Minnesota.
Cole Young had four of Seattle’s 14 hits. Emerson, Julio Rodriguez and Josh Naylor had two each. Naylor extended his on-base streak to 24 straight games, currently the longest active streak in the majors.
Twins starter Taj Bradley pitched six innings, giving up seven hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
Keaschall, Trevor Larnach, Royce Lewis and Josh Bell each had two of Minnesota’s 11 hits. Larnach’s 10th homer of the season got Minnesota on the board in the eighth, cutting the margin to 6-2. Later in the eighth, Lewis hit his 12th of the year, a three-run shot, to make it 6-5.
Up next
The Twins will send Joe Ryan (6-7, 3.52 ERA) to the mound Tuesday for the opener of a three-game series at Kansas City. The Mariners have not yet announced a starter for their home game against Detroit on Tuesday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Mark Moschetti, The Associated Press
