Randy Arozarena hit two home runs — including a two-run shot with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning — and robbed another as the Seattle Mariners rallied for a 5-4 victory against the visiting Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
With two outs in the ninth, Weston Wilson doubled to right-center field off Cubs closer Jacob Webb (6-3). Leo Rivas blooped a single to right, scoring Wilson, and Arozarena followed with a walk-off blast to straightaway center.
Arozarena hit the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning out to left-center and leaped at the wall to bring back what would’ve been a solo shot from the Cubs’ Miguel Amaya in the third.
Arozarena’s heroics lifted the Mariners to their fifth victory in seven games and prevented prized prospect Kade Anderson from taking a loss in his major league debut. The Cubs lost their third straight.
Mariners reliever Michael Rucker (1-4) got the victory with a scoreless ninth.
Alex Bregman and Michael Busch hit back-to-back homers in the sixth to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead and end Anderson’s debut.
Anderson, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 MLB draft, allowed just one baserunner through the first three innings — a two-out walk to Tyrone Taylor in the second.
The Cubs’ first hit was a bloop single to center by Seiya Suzuki leading off the fourth.
Chicago tied it at 1-1 in the fifth after Taylor drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Pedro Ramirez grounded a single to left and Kevin Alcantara followed with a sacrifice fly to right.
The Mariners regained the lead in the bottom of the inning. Wilson lined a single to right, Rivas was hit by a pitch and Arozarena legged out an infield single to load the bases with no outs. Wilson scored as Dominic Canzone grounded into a forceout.
Despite a pitch count at 72 — Anderson’s largest in the minors this season was 80 — the Mariners sent the left-hander back out to the mound in the sixth to face the top of the Cubs’ batting order for a third time.
Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a double high off the wall in right. Suzuki grounded out to third, with Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor throwing out Crow-Armstrong, who strayed too far off the bag, at second for a double play.
Bregman hit a first-pitch changeup deep to left-center and Busch deposited the next pitch, a slider, over the fence in right-center to end Anderson’s outing. Reliever Carlos Vargas, making his season debut, allowed back-to-back doubles by Nico Hoerner and Taylor to give the Cubs a 4-2 lead.
Anderson went 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five.
Cubs lefty David Peterson gave up two runs on four hits in his return to the rotation. He walked two and fanned eight.
Mariners third baseman Brendan Donovan was a late scratch after team officials said he was hit in the head by a ball in the batting cages. The M’s said Donovan was being evaluated for a concussion.
–Field Level Media
