Raise -- no, strum the trident! Arozarena blasts game-winning homer in 10th

BALTIMORE -- Randy Arozarena was as amped as ever on Tuesday night, and the only thing missing from his celebration following a game-winning homer over the Orioles might have been an actual amp.

The Mariners’ slugging left fielder salvaged a 6-5 victory by punching an opposite-field, two-run homer to lead off the 10th inning -- immediately after José A. Ferrer coughed away a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth.

Upon seizing the Mariners’ celebratory home run trident, as has become a blossoming custom for Arozarena, he flipped the prop on his knee and began strumming it like a guitar. Julio Rodríguez ambushed him, and both pointed towards the dugout camera feeding to the Mariners broadcast.

It’s become a new antic for the electric outfield tandem, amplifying one of the sport’s more unique home run celebrations.

“It motivates him, it motivates me,” Arozarena said through an interpreter. “We both go out there, it just keeps things light, keeps things fun, and we just go out there and literally just enjoy the moment and enjoy the game we're playing.”

Arozarena’s big blast came on the heels of Ferrer barely escaping a bases-loaded jam to push this one to extras, after the lefty gave up the tying runs that squashed a lead the Mariners had carried since Mitch Garver’s three-run homer in the fourth.

The night wasn’t over even after Arozarena’s huge hack, as newcomer Nick Davila gave up another run but was saved by a remarkable putout from Patrick Wisdom to cut down the tying run at the plate. It was the third baseman’s second of the night at home and Seattle’s third overall, as Cole Young had one from shortstop in the second inning.

“You try to calm yourself because you don't want to white-knuckle it out there,” Wisdom said. “But just kind of be athletic, and you're obviously aware that that's the tying run.”

Wisdom corralled the slow one-hopper and threw off his back foot in foul territory, light enough (61.9 mph) to ensure accuracy but quick enough to position Garver for a clean tag on speedster Blaze Alexander, who was diving headfirst.

It was also close enough that the Orioles challenged -- they likely would’ve anyway, given that they had a challenge added when the game reached extras -- but the ruling was upheld.

“If he throws it another foot to his arm side, I’m not making that play,” Garver said.

It bailed Davila out, but the rookie still had the tying run on second base and winning run on first while facing Tyler O’Neill.

Recalled from Triple-A Tacoma just one hour before first pitch, and after taking a redeye, Davila channeled some 80-grade adrenaline to work an 0-2 count then go for the jugular on a 2-2 sinker that sliced across the strike zone and inside on O’Neill, who swung and missed to end the game. It was a massive turnaround, too, after Davila began the frame by plunking Alexander on his very first pitch.

Moreover, it was also Davila’s first career save, having made his MLB debut during his first stint with the club on May 3. Essentially, these were the biggest pitches of the 27-year-old’s professional career thus far.

“Every single pitch I was throwing was like, 'You don't want to be anywhere else but right here. Let's execute this pitch to the best of your ability,'” Davila said. “And it was like, everything I was putting into was just that pitch.”

Those were the final acts to a night that one could write a novel about.

Wisdom’s first putout at the plate in the ninth was arguably more vital than the one in the 10th -- because the bases were loaded, the game was tied and Ferrer was on the ropes. He fielded that one by leaping for a one-hopper from Gunnar Henderson that nearly cleared over his head, then fired cleanly to Garver for the second out.

But the same bases-loaded threat still loomed, which set up Ryan Bliss with the first of his two game-saving plays.

He fielded a 110.7 mph two-hopper from Pete Alonso that Ferrer nearly yanked out of the air and beat Henderson to second base by a shoestring. That one also prompted a Baltimore challenge.

Then in the 10th, Bliss made a diving stop near the right-field foul line behind Josh Naylor after Naylor ran into the runner on first base. That one stranded Alexander on third base as the tying run and set up Wisdom’s big play.

“I'm literally playing every situation I can in my head before the pitch is thrown,” Bliss said. “If this ball is hit here, where can I go? If this ball is here, I'm just looking everywhere to see what could happen, just playing it through. That way, when the play happens, I feel like I've seen it before.”

The Mariners have seemingly played a game of inches the past three days, beginning with a gut-punch loss in Detroit on Sunday, when the winning run nicked Young’s glove into right field. But in Baltimore, the ball has bounced their way -- thanks to some sound defensive execution and a big blast from their All-Star candidate.