Sunday afternoon was not a good day for relief pitchers wearing a Mariners uniform. The Mariners entered the bottom of the ninth inning against the Angels with a healthy 9-3 lead. Casey Fien had the responsibility of keeping the game out of reach for the Halos, but it was a responsibility he could not fulfill.
Albert Pujols led off with a solo home run to center field, making it a 9-4 game. Fien then walked Cliff Pennington, allowed a single to C.J. Cron, and walked Ben Revere to load the bases. Edwin Diaz came in to relieve Fien and he at least got an out when Danny Espinosa hit a ground ball to second base. Diaz fanned Martin Maldonado for the second out. Despite all that happened, the Angels still only had a 1.8 percent chance of winning according to FanGraphs.
Unfortunate for the Mariners, Yunel Escobar followed up with a bases-clearing double, cutting the deficit to 9-7. During the next at-bat, facing Kole Calhoun, Diaz uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Escobar to move to third base. Diaz finished off the at-bat by issuing a walk to Calhoun on four pitches, then walked Trout on four pitches to re-load the bases. Pujols, up for his second at-bat of the inning, singled to right field, plating two runs to tie the game at nine-all. Pennington ended it with a single to right, scoring Trout for the walk-off win.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, teams had lost 346 consecutive games entering Sunday when they trailed by six or more runs entering the ninth inning. The Angels ended that streak.
Teams leading by 6+ runs entering 9th were 2,529-1 since 2011. The only loss was the Royals defeating the White Sox on May 28 last season. https://t.co/N87POMcA84
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 9, 2017