MINNEAPOLIS — There was the catch against the wall in foul ground by left fielder Ben Gamel. Check it out in the highlight clips. It might be a while before you see a better one.
And no surprise, Gamel’s catch dominated the post-game buzz in the Seattle Mariners’ clubhouse.
“That’s as tough as it gets,” right fielder Mitch Haniger marveled. “Especially down the line. It’s really hard to judge how much room you have before you hit the wall.
“Sometimes, you go up and hit the wall before you get to the ball. That was unbelievable. You worry about impacting the wall, and then you still have the ground to deal with.”
All true but beyond that is this: As bad as Tuesday’s blowout loss was for the Mariners, what loomed Wednesday was far worse.
They built a big early lead but missed chances to turn the game into a rout, and then had to hold on for a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Edwin Diaz escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the ninth inning.
“Great job by our bullpen,” manager Scott Servais said, “against a team that has really been swinging the bat well.”
Particularly lately.
Minnesota rapped out 28 hits Tuesday in administering a 20-7 bludgeoning, but here were the Mariners, one day later, jumping to an early 5-0 lead against Ervin Santana, the Twins’ best pitcher.
“That’s what good teams do,” Haniger said. “(On Tuesday), I felt like we swung the bats pretty well. They just got to our pitching. You’ve got to put it behind you.”
Haniger got the Mariners started with a two-run homer in the first inning. Mike Zunino’s three-run drive in the third pushed the lead to 5-0, although there were danger signs, too. Lots of stranded runners.
It didn’t seem to matter.
Rookie Sam Gaviglio (3-1) retired 12 of 13 hitters in opening the game with four shutout innings before things changed.
Gaviglio gave up two homers in the fifth before exiting after serving up a two-run shot to Miguel Sano in the sixth. What had been a comfortable lead was now a tight game.
“They made him throw a lot of pitches,” Zunino said. “He threw everything early. When you see a guy a few times, you have to be really fine. And he let a couple of balls get over the middle, and they made him pay.”
James Pazos nursed a two-run lead into the eighth, which is when it got hairy — Gamel-themed pun intended — after Gamel’s spectacular catch.
Nick Vincent then gave up a single to Sano, which prompted a switch to lefty Marc Rzepczynski to face Max Kepler. The Twins countered by sending up Robbie Grossman.
Maybe it didn’t matter. Rzepczynski put the tying run on base with a four-pitch walk. Diaz replaced Rzepczynski and struck out Kennys Vargas, but that only got the game to the ninth inning.
The Twins put the tying run on base with one out, but Diaz buckled down with a strikeout and a fly ball in completing a four-out save.
“The pitching coach (Mel Stottlemyre) came to me and said, ‘You’re fine. Just make your pitch,’” Diaz said. “I made my pitch to (Eddie) Rosario and struck him out.
“Then with (Brian) Dozier, I got the fly ball, and we got the win.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
