Kirby lost the footrace with Diaz to the base. Former Mariner Jose Caballero read the play and eagerly scored from second on the play.

“I probably should just have tried to tag him instead of going to the bag,” Kirby said. “And, yeah, screw Cabby for going home on that play.”

Would that one play be the Mariners’ undoing? Well, the Mariners’ inconsistent offense wasn’t providing much inspiration for an expected comeback.

“It was not going to decide the game,” Servais said. “George was throwing the ball great and were going to need to score to win this game.”

They’d managed just one hit, a J.P. Crawford double, over the first five innings while striking out eight times against Rays starter Ryan Pepiot.

When Pepiot overpowered Ryan Bliss for his ninth strikeout to start the sixth, a familiar script to defeat was being followed.

But Crawford worked a one-out walk that ended Pepiot’s outing. Tampa manager Kevin Cash called on one-time Mariners reliever Shawn Armstrong.

When Josh Rojas made sure his ground ball to second baseman Amed Rosario didn’t result in an inning-ending double play by hustling to first, it kept the inning going for Julio Rodriguez.

Mired in a miserable slump that he’s mistakenly tried to swing his way out of, the Mariners' young slugger didn’t exactly exhibit early patience, taking hacks at several pitches out of the zone. But he fouled off just enough put-away pitches and refused to chase pitches well out of the zone to work a nine-pitch walk.

“I thought he slowed it down really well,” Servais said. “It’s been a tough trip for Julio. He hasn’t had any time and he’s still late on a number of pitches. But in those moments, he’s got to compete, forget about your swing, forget about your timing. What do I need to do to help the team out? It was a huge walk.”

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