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Mitch Garver hits walkoff home run as Mariners stun Braves

Ryan Divish, The Seattle Times on

Published in Baseball

With the Mariners seemingly three outs away from wasting a brilliant starting pitching performance from Bryce Miller while being held scoreless due to another night of swings-and-misses and squandered scoring opportunities, Mitch Garver turned the looming night of frustration into a walk-off celebration with one swing the bat.

Garver unleashed on a 3-2 cutter from Braves lefty A.J. Minter, sending a ball deep over the wall in left field for a two-run homer and the Mariners to a stunning 2-1 walk-off victory over the Braves.

Trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth, Jorge Polanco led off with a single to left off Braves lefty reliever A.J. Minter, who was pitching in the save situation with normal closer Raisel Iglesisas unavailable due to usage.

It brought Garver to the plate as the winning run. He took three straight balls from Minter and thought he’d drawn ball four

Admittedly off to a slower start than he or the Mariners expected, Garver has been grinding through pregame work trying to find consistency at the plate. He had starting to hit the ball hard on the road trip, but it was usually on the ground at the third baseman.

Not this time, the ball rocketed off his bat and was a no-doubter. He flipped the bat in the air as if it was a mic drop in relief as the crowd of 26,452 rose to its feet to celebrate.

It was really the only highlight produced by a Mariners offense that was swung-and-miss far too much and managed to squander a bases-loaded, no-outs situation in the eighth inning.

 

For the first five innings, Atlanta starter Max Fried and Seattle starter Bryce Miller flirted with no-hitters.

Miller was perfect five innings, retiring the first 15 batters he faced with efficiency and power. His bid at a perfect game ended with one out in the sixth inning when he walked Travis d’Arnaud on four pitches. But that first base runner was erased immediately when Miller got Jarred Kelenic to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

His bid for a no-hitter and a shutout ended in the seventh inning. Ronald Acuna broke up the no-hit bid when his hard ground ball up the middle couldn’t be fielded cleanly by Dylan Moore’s lunging attempt. Given Acuna’s elite speed, he likely wouldn’t beaten it out had Moore made the play. The official scorer ruled it an infield, which elicited a smattering of boos from fans when the scoreboard showed a hit for the Braves.

Miller allowed his first run moments later. Acuna stole second, then stole third and jogged home when Ozzie Albies roped a double into the gap in right-center for a 1-0 lead.

Unlike some pitchers who implode once they lose their no-hit and shutout so quickly, Miller regrouped and came back to strike out Austin Riley and Matt Olson. He ended his outing, getting Marcel Ozuna to fly out to right field.

Miller’s final line: seven innings pitched, one run allowed on two hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts.


©2024 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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