SAN DIEGO — For a brief moment, it looked like the Mariners monthlong quest to win a series would continue into extra innings or possibly into the upcoming series in Anaheim.
After cleaning up Ryne Stanek’s mess in the eighth inning with a strikeout of Padres All-Star Jurickson Profar, Andres Muñoz had created his own mess with back-to-back walks to start the bottom of the ninth. With the Mariners only up two runs, it meant that the next three hitters would come go to the plate as the winning run.
Muñoz got Donovan Solano to ground out to J.P. Crawford for the first out, but both runner moved up 90 feet, meaning the tying run was in scoring position at second. He struck out rookie Jackson Merrill on a nasty slider in the dirt for the second out.
When veteran hitter David Peralta was able to fight off back-to-back two-strike pitches and then get enough of a slider to send a soft line drive to center, the announced crowd of 39,611 roared at the possibility of game-tying bloop single.
But as the late-afternoon shadows started to cover Petco Park on Wednesday, Crawford got a perfect read on a ball that grew more catchable as it traveled, making an easy catch to close out a 2-0 victory over the Padres.
It gave Seattle a sweep of the now traditional two-game series interleague series between the two “natural rivals,” and ended a stretch of six consecutive series lost.
The Mariners got a solid start from Bryce Miller, who found some success away from T-Mobile Park. And all of the offense was provided by Jorge Polanco, yes, Jorge Polanco, who drove in both runs in the game.
Miller pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits with no walks and one strikeout. That lone strikeout came in the final hitter of his outing, when he fired a 96-mph fastball past Jake Cronenworth to the end the sixth.
Miller got plenty of help from his defense.
In the second inning, he allowed three consecutive singles to load the bases with one out. When Ha-Seong Kim hit a fly ball to center field, it looked as if the Padres might pick up their first run.
But Julio Rodriguez was able to get into a primed position to make a throw home after making the catch. He delivered a strong and accurate throw, Cal Raleigh made a clean grab on the two-hopper and applied the tag on Donovan Solano for the third out.