Bottom of Mariners' order keys walk-off win

SEATTLE -- The bottom of the Mariners’ lineup had been so stagnant over a period pushing two weeks to the point that it felt like their walk-off comeback over the pesky Rangers on Wednesday lifted a hefty weight off the shoulders of just about everyone at T-Mobile Park.

Luis Torrens crushed a 393-foot single off the center-field wall that easily scored Jarred Kelenic from third in the bottom of the ninth inning to send Seattle to a 2-1 win and snap a streak of six straight losses in one-run games, contests that just a few weeks ago they thrived in better than any team in the Majors.

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Kelenic was only in position to score thanks to a leadoff double into the right-center gap that challenged center fielder Adolis García. Kelenic, who is becoming a poster boy for hustle doubles, exploded out of the box and dialed his sprint speed up to 28.4 feet per second, according to Statcast, well above the MLB average of 27.

Next, Jake Fraley reached on a check-swing infield dribbler that moved Kelenic to third and set up Torrens, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and had been in a huge rut since the All-Star break, slashing .169/.250/.323.

“It's a big moment for me,” Torrens said. “The past week probably has not been the best, but I tried to make an adjustment and finally a good thing happened. In that moment, they’re trying to throw me something up in the top of the zone and [I wanted to] put the ball in the air. That was a sinker guy, and I just didn't want to hit a ground-ball double play. So in my mind, it was just, ‘Put the ball in the air and let Kelenic score on a sacrifice fly or whatever.’”

For the Mariners, who had lost nine of 13 entering Wednesday and who again looked lifeless at the plate heading into the ninth, they’ll take any ounce of momentum they can muster.

Outside of Kelenic, who also drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth that accounted for Seattle’s other run, and Abraham Toro, who went 2-for-3 with hits from both sides of the plate, the Mariners’ bats have been mostly quiet since the club’s big trade to acquire Toro in exchange for Kendall Graveman and Rafael Montero on July 27.

Joe Smith, who was also brought back in that deal, pitched two critical outs to strand a runner on third on Wednesday, following a solid outing by starter Tyler Anderson, also a Trade Deadline acquisition.

Toro is slashing .373/.458/.647 since joining the Mariners, making him by far their most productive hitter. Kelenic is slashing .264/.350/.491 in that same stretch. But the rest of the offense has slashed .221/.303/.354 over these same 14 games, with a glaring lack of power. Kelenic and Toro have accounted for 14 of the club’s 34 extra-base hits in this stretch.

More specifically, the bottom of the order has limped along. In this same stretch, entering Wednesday, Seattle’s Nos. 6-9 hitters were slashing .183/.280/.277 for a 63 wRC+ (league average is 100). That’s what made how they came from behind more encouraging, given that it was explicitly manufactured by those very hitters. Kelenic hit sixth, Fraley seventh, Cal Raleigh eighth and Torrens ninth.

“It takes contributions from all over the lineup, guys chipping in, having a good at-bat when you need it, and that's what we saw tonight,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Everybody's got to contribute. That's what it takes.”

Speaking of Raleigh, while he got beat for three strikeouts in three at-bats, in Servais’ mind, the catcher was responsible for the game’s most critical out, cutting down Isiah Kiner-Falefa attempting to swipe second base after the Rangers’ top-of-the-order hitter was hit by Diego Castillo to lead off the eighth. Raleigh has been working diligently on improving his defense, and his throw was on a dime at 80.9 mph, per Statcast.

“He’s put a ton of work in his defense and his work behind the plate, and it's really showing right now,” said Kelenic, who played for over a month at Triple-A Tacoma with Raleigh. “And I wish that people could have seen -- and they're going to see -- but just how amazing he was down in Tacoma. And it's only a matter of time before the whole world gets to see him.”

The Mariners remain in the postseason hunt, 5 1/2 games back of Toronto, which comes to town Friday. And while chasing October would be huge over the final six weeks, it’s the type of developments the Mariners saw Wednesday from their young players -- Kelenic, Toro, Raleigh, Torrens et al -- that could have far more impact on their long-term trajectory.

“The fact that we're in all these close games is awesome,” Servais said. “It's a tremendous opportunity for our guys to learn how to handle it. What Jarred Kelenic and Cal Raleigh -- and go up and down the lineup -- what they're learning from dealing with hitting with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth or 10th, it’s invaluable. It’s only going to make us better down the road.”