SEATTLE — Well, the Mariners aren’t dead yet.
Adam Lind’s two-out, three-run homer capped an improbable four-run rally in the ninth inning Monday for a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Chicago White Sox.
The victory came after the Mariners managed just one hit through eight innings against White Sox ace Chris Sale.
But, oh my, they came to life in the ninth inning against Chicago closer David Robertson.
Franklin Gutierrez led off with a single and, after Robinson Cano grounded into a force, Robertson walked Nelson Cruz.
Dae-Ho Lee struck out, but Kyle Seager punched an RBI single into center. That got the game to Lind, who was batting for catcher Chris Iannetta.
Robertson jumped ahead 0-1 in the count before Lind sent a drive over the right-center wall for a three-run homer.
What a turnaround.
David Rollins (1-0) got the victory after pitching a scoreless ninth as the Mariners climbed back over .500 at 47-46. Robertson (0-2) was the loser.
The Mariners’ best scoring chance against Sale came in the seventh inning, when he hit two batters. But Seager ended the threat by striking out on a sweeping slider — a nearly unhittable pitch for a left-handed hitter.
Mariners starter Wade LeBlanc gave up three runs in seven innings — a quality start and a solid outing that might be good enough to keep him in the rotation when the unit temporarily trims next week to four pitchers.
But it didn’t match Sale, who yielded a one-out single in the first inning to Franklin Gutierrez. There were three walks and a pair of hit batsmen. Nothing more until the ninth.
LeBlanc gave up a pair of no-doubt homers: an absolute boomer to Tim Anderson in the first inning, and a two-run drive by Todd Frazier in the fourth inning.
The walk-off victory came one day after a miserable 8-1 exhibition against Houston that, statistically anyway, got a little better Monday when a review by the Elias Sports Bureau took an error away from left fielder Seth Smith.
That meant the Mariners only made three errors in the loss.
The Mariners rebounded Monday with a fairly strong defensive game, which included a sparkling play by Seager at third base and another by shortstop Shawn O’Malley.
Like LeBlanc’s performance, all of that seemed little more than a footnote before the ninth inning.
Anderson’s one-out homer in the first inning, which reached the upper deck in left field, gave the White Sox a quick 1-0 lead. LeBlanc also gave up a double and a single but avoided further damage.
It stayed 1-0 until the Chicago fourth, when Melky Cabrera led off with a single, and Frazier followed with his 26th homer on a 428-foot drive to straightaway center.
Frazier’s homer also marked the first time since July 9 that the White Sox had scored more than one run in a game. They arrived at Safeco mired in a four-game skid, including three weekend losses to the Angels in Anaheim.
Sale didn’t pitch in that series. Neither did Jose Quintana, another All-Star who pitches Tuesday against the Mariners.
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