Rookie Harry Ford came off the bench and delivered a game-winning sacrifice fly in the 12th inning as the Seattle Mariners outlasted the Los Angeles Angels 7-6 on Thursday night, pulling into a tie with Houston for first place in the AL West.
It marked Seattle’s second straight extra-inning walk-off, following Leo Rivas’ two-run homer in the 13th inning a night earlier against St. Louis. The Mariners have now won six straight.
The Angels rallied from an early 4-0 deficit, sparked by Logan Davidson’s first career home run and capped by Mike Trout’s 399th career blast, a two-run shot in the fifth that tied the game. Trout’s homer was his first in 29 games.
Seattle took an early lead behind J.P. Crawford’s two-run double and Julio Rodríguez’s matching two-run double in the second. Crawford later tied the game again in the 11th with an RBI single.
Matthew Lugo briefly put Los Angeles ahead 6-5 with a run-scoring single in the 12th off José Castillo (2-2). But Jorge Polanco doubled off Sammy Peralta (0-1) to score and tie the automatic runner. After Seattle loaded the bases, Ford lifted a fly ball to right, and Polanco slid home headfirst with the winning run — Ford’s first career RBI in four plate appearances.
Bryce Miller struck out a career-high 11 over 5 2/3 innings for Seattle.
Key Moment:
Trout’s 21st homer of the season snapped his career-long drought and tied the game in the fifth.
Key Stat:
Seattle became the first team since adopting the automatic runner in 2020 to play back-to-back games of at least 12 innings.
Up Next:
The series continues Friday with Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (6-11, 4.18 ERA) set to face Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (9-8, 3.85).
