One throw that happened hours earlier set the stage for what took place in the 10th inning on Saturday.
J.P. Crawford is usually so dependable when it comes to the fundamentals of playing shortstop. But every so often his throws can get squirrely. A little low. A little offline.
One of those throws showed up in the third inning against the Rangers. What should have been the last out of the inning instead became an error on Crawford when he short-hopped a throw to first base. Predictably, the next batter, Corey Seager, followed with a two-run homer.
That was the only damage the Rangers managed until the 10th inning when Marcus Semien’s one-out single scored the winning run and gave the Rangers a 3-2 win over the Mariners before 35,506 at Globe Life Field.
In extra innings, it's tough. It's a tough one to swallow. But you know what? We get a chance to win the series tomorrow, bounce back," M's manager Dan Wilson said.
The focus of the day should have been on Bryan Woo and another terrific start from the right-hander as he continued his streak of throwing at least six innings in every start this season.
And while it's unfair to single out Crawford, the circumstances of that inning and how the rest of the game unfolded leaves that one play being in focus.
"That's baseball. J.P. is so dependable at shortstop. That stuff is going to happen from time to time," Wilson said. "We were able to tie the game up. We had our chances to win. We just weren't able to do it."
Woo’s day might have been flawless and he might have earned the opportunity to pitch into the seventh inning if not for the error. With two outs in the third inning, Crawford rushed his throw to first as Josh Smith hustled down the line, and Donovan Solano couldn’t pick the short-hop.
And everyone knew what was going to happen next. Woo left a slider elevated to Seager and he clubbed it 420 feet — homering in his second straight game — to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
"Even the pitch to Corey, I thought was a good pitch. Just put a good swing on. He tends to do that a lot," Woo said. "But overall, pretty good. Felt [I] got better as the game went on."
Woo ended up throwing 11 extra pitches in the inning due to the error, but the extra work didn’t derail his streak of throwing at least six innings in every start this season. He’s 16 for 16 with a chance to tie Mark Langston for the second-longest streak to begin a season his next time out.
Woo struck out four of the final six batters he faced and finished with nine strikeouts. He had a chance to set a new career high facing his final batter, but Evan Carter popped out on a 3-2 pitch to end the sixth.
Woo again relied on the mix of fastball, sinker and changeup, but his sweeper might have been his best pitch despite throwing it only five times. Woo got Semien, Josh Jung and Kyle Higashioka all waving at sweepers for strikeouts.
"It's predicated on getting ahead and establishing the fastball, and as soon as you get ahead and you get them sped up then you have a lot of opportunities with it, Woo said.
A day after the Mariners bullpen allowed only one earned run in 6 2/3 innings of work, they were up to the task again. Gabe Speier was responsible for that one earned run allowed on Friday, but rebounded with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, working through the top of the Rangers order.
Matt Brash extended his scoreless streak to 18 straight appearances working the ninth, but Andrés Muñoz stumbled in the 10th after the M's failed to score in the top of the inning.
Muñoz started strong striking out Sam Haggerty when the former Mariner was unable to get a bunt down. But it quickly unraveled as Muñoz hit Smith with a wayward slider and watched everyone advance 90 feet when another slider bounced in front of Cal Raleigh.
He walked Seager on a 3-2 pitch and Semien sent everyone home poking a single through the drawn-in infield to score Alejandro Osuna with the winning run.
It was a deflating conclusion to a day when the M’s received terrific pitching, but the offense couldn’t match.
It also seemed fitting that the Mariners ended the first half on Friday and started the second half less than 24 hours later with extra-inning games that rode such a thin margin.
Not to be overlooked, the M's offense did little against Texas starter Kumar Rocker, who took the loss in a 9-2 defeat to the M's in April and didn't get through the fourth inning.
Dominic Canzone homered for the fifth time since being recalled to the major league roster just a few weeks ago for the M’s first run in the third inning. Canzone turned on an 0-2 pitch and drove it 425 feet to give the M's a 1-0 lead.
Randy Arozarena added a two-out RBI single in the sixth inning and tied the game at 2-2. Arozarena was batting just .171 with runners in scoring position and two outs entering the day, but his hard grounder found the outfield and scored Raleigh after he walked earlier in the inning.
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