3 Up, 3 Down: Eugenio Suárez Stays Hot to Lead Mariners to 6-5 Comeback Win Over Rangers
In all three games of their weekend series with the Rangers, the Mariners have found themselves down 3-2 with six or fewer outs to go. They overcame that deficit to steal game one on Friday night and, after being unable to recapture the magic on Saturday, managed to claw their way back up from an even deeper hole on Sunday.
Seattle squandered some opportunities on the offensive end, but it succeeded in its overall goal to survive left-handed pitcher and ERA leader Martín Pérez, whose afternoon ended after 6.0 solid innings with the game tied at two runs apiece. Unfortunately, the team's bullpen issues in high-leverage situations cropped once again, resulting in a pair of what initially seemed to be backbreaking Texas home runs in the seventh and eighth.
Instead, it turns out the Rangers failed to afford their own struggling bullpen enough of a cushion. The Mariners rattled off three runs in the top of the ninth to send the game to extras, then pushed across the go-ahead, game-winning run on a wild pitch the following frame.
Right-handed reliever Paul Sewald shut the door in the bottom half of the 10th, keeping the Rangers' automatic runner glued to second base for the entire inning. With that, the Mariners escaped Globe Life Field with a stunning 6-5 come-from-behind victory to notch their third consecutive series win.
Now it's time to play "3 Up, 3 Down" and go over the Mariners' three best and worst performances from the Sunday afternoon action.