Randy Arozarena got the first word and the last word Saturday.
And did a little talking with his glove in between.
Arozarena, moved into the leadoff spot when Brendan Donovan was a late scratch, hit the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning over the fence in deep left-center field. He added a two-run shot to straightaway center with two outs in the ninth as the Seattle Mariners rallied for a 5-4 victory against the visiting Chicago Cubs.
The Mariners will go for a sweep of the three-game interleague series Sunday in Seattle.
Arozarena also robbed Chicago’s Miguel Amaya of a solo homer in the third inning, leaping at the left-field wall to make the catch.
“I think it’s my biggest game,” Arozarena said through an interpreter, third-base coach Carlos Cardoza. “I didn’t expect to come into the game and hit two home runs and rob one, but, yes, it was a special day for me, a special performance for myself, but most importantly, being able to help the team win is the biggest thing.”
The defending American League West champion Mariners won for the fifth time in their past seven games and pulled within three games of division-leading Houston and two games back in the wild-card race.
“The hunger this team has right now, it’s something that motivates me personally,” Arozarena said. “This is what we’re fighting for. We’re fighting to get a playoff berth, and it’s something we’ve been talking about since spring training. There are ups and downs throughout the season, but right now we’re fighting together to get to that spot.”
Arozarena’s heroics prevented prized prospect Kade Anderson from taking a loss in his major league debut. Anderson blanked the Cubs for four innings before allowing a sacrifice fly in the fifth and back-to-back homers by Alex Bregman and Michael Busch in the sixth.
“Walking through the doors was special,” said Anderson, who exited after 5 2/3 innings. “I’m glad I got to come in (Friday), kind of get my feet wet a little bit. (Saturday was) not by any means a normal day, but it felt a little more comfortable, and it was just a blast out there.
“And the way the game finished truly was really cool.”
Cubs manager Craig Counsell was philosophical after a second straight walk-off loss.
“Baseball happened … they had a hard-hit double, a bloop single and a really dangerous hitter with a good swing,” said Counsell, recalling the Mariners’ two-out rally in the ninth.
The Cubs are scheduled to send left-hander Shota Imanaga (8-9, 3.77 ERA) to the mound Sunday against Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller (4-7, 3.71).
Imanaga didn’t get a decision Monday in a 7-5 victory against the crosstown rival White Sox in 10 innings despite allowing three runs on two hits over six innings, with three walks and 10 strikeouts. He won his lone career start against Seattle, holding them scoreless through 5 1/3 innings in April 2024.
Miller has dropped his past five decisions. He lasted just 4 2/3 innings and gave up six runs (five earned) Tuesday in a 22-0 loss at Milwaukee.
He pitched in the same 2024 series as Imanaga and realized the same result — a win with no runs allowed over 6 1/3 innings in his lone career start against Chicago.
–Field Level Media
