Seattle Mariners Survive Bullpen Collapse in 7-6 Win Against Minnesota Twins

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Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson speaks to the media after a 7-6 win against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. | Teren Kowatsch/Roundtable Sports

SEATTLE — Offensive dominance and a gem of an outing from starting pitcher George Kirby was enough for the Seattle Mariners to overcome a six-run bullpen collapse in a 7-6 win against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday at T-Mobile Park.

Kirby, who's been mired in trade rumors and saw one of his rotation-mates, Luis Castillo, traded less than 24 hours before his start.

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Despite the chaos surrounding him, Kirby came into his outing focused and posted a seven-inning quality start. He struck out three, walked one and allowed five hits in seven innings of work.

"I thought I did a great job of mixing it up and getting some swings-and-misses when I needed to," Kirby said in a postgame interview. "Thought it was a great game. I thought I battled pretty well (in) certain counts. ... And our offense showed up today early, so it was pretty nice to see."

The Mariners offense gave Kirby a comfortable cushion for most of his outing.

In the bottom of the second inning, Seattle broke out to a 2-0 lead after first baseman Josh Naylor hit a two-RBI double off the left field wall.

Seattle maintained its lead until the bottom of the sixth inning. In that frame, second baseman Cole Young hit an RBI single to bolster the team's lead to 3-0.

Young finished the game 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI in the lead-off spot for the Mariners. It was the first four-hit game of Young's career.

"It's been unbelievable to have that kind of consistency," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said after the game Sunday. "It feels like he's just waiting to get a pitch that he can handle. When he gets it, he's not missing it. He's in one of those grooves."

The Mariners bolstered their advantage to 6-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning after Cal Raleigh, who narrowly missed a two-run shot to center field earlier in the game, hit a three-run bomb to left field.

Following the seventh inning, Seattle turned to right-handed reliever Eduard Bazardo and left-handed reliever Jose A. Ferrer for the eighth inning, which was where Minnesota mounted its comeback.

The Twins put up five runs in the top of the eighth. The first two came via a two-run homer hit by left fielder Trevor Larnach off Bazardo. The remaining three came via a homer to center field hit by first baseman Royce Lewis off Bazardo.

The Mariners gave closer Andres Munoz the ball for the ninth, a day after his 1.1-inning outing in a 4-3 win against Minnesota on Saturday.

Munoz was unable to preserve the one-run lead and gave up a lead-off solo homer to Twins center fielder Luke Keaschall.

Munoz got out of the inning despite more trouble, and Seattle's offense retook the field in the bottom of the ninth with the chance to either walk-off and earn the series win or attempt to win in extra innings.

Naylor and right fielder Victor Robles both hit singles to set the Mariners up with runners at second and third with one out. Naylor was pinch-ran for by outfielder Stuart Fairchild after awkwardly sliding into third base and hitting his face.

Wilson clarified after the game that Naylor is fine and the team was planning to pinch-run for him either way.

With two runners in scoring position and one out, shortstop Colt Emerson stepped to the plate after the Twins' defense moved an outfielder to the infield.

With four-of-five Minnesota infielders lined up to his pull side toward right field, Emerson hit an RBI single to past them to give Seattle the 7-6 victory and the series win.

It was the first career walk-off for the rookie.

"All I got to do (in that situation) is hit a weak fly ball," Emerson said after the game. "I've done that a million times. That's all I got to do. And in that situation, I haven't been on a fastball at all this whole series. That guy's throwing hard, I know I'm gonna get a fastball, so all I got to do is get on time with one of them. And thank god I did."

The win improved the Mariners' record to 55-58, three games behind the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West and two games out of the final AL wild card spot.

Seattle will have the day off Monday, which will coincide with the trade deadline. Teams will have until 3 p.m. PT that day to make any additional moves.

The Mariners will return to T-Mobile Park on Tuesday for the first game in the second of a trio of three-game homes series. They'll play the Detroit Tigers. Starting pitchers are still to-be-announced.

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