SEATTLE -- At long last, the meat of the Mariners' order has delivered.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday, Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor strung together consecutive base hits that lifted Seattle to a 5-4 walk-off victory over the A’s.
It wasn’t just that the Mariners needed this win, which avoided a sweep. They needed this breakthrough from these guys.
Entering Wednesday, that trio was hitting a combined .195 with a .596 OPS over 315 plate appearances. Their struggles had been the offense’s most glaring amid what’s now an 11-15 start.
It’s been more magnified because it’s been all of them scuffling -- and all at once.
"You work hard to get those results,” said Naylor, who registered his first career walk-off hit in Seattle. “It's a hard game we play. It's arguably the hardest sport. We chose to play it -- and we're idiots for choosing it -- but we did. And we have decided to come to this ballpark every day and grind."
Wednesday marked just the third time this season that Raleigh, Rodríguez and Naylor registered three hits in a row.
Both times prior were in the first inning, when the stakes weren’t nearly as high -- on April 13 (single for Raleigh, double for Rodríguez, homer for Naylor) and Monday (homer for Raleigh, single for Rodríguez, double for Naylor).
Moreover, Seattle’s Nos. 2-4 spots in the lineup -- which that trio has occupied in all but three games -- ranks 29th in batting average (.212), 26th in on-base percentage (.294), 26th in slug (.334) and 24th in RBIs (34).
Those numbers aren’t even in the same zip code as last year, when Raleigh, Rodríguez and Naylor slashed a combined .270/.347/.514 (.861 OPS), after Naylor was acquired ahead of the Trade Deadline and through the postseason.
That trio has started to turn things -- Raleigh homered for the third straight day on Wednesday, and Rodríguez extended his on-base streak to 19 games -- but only in spurts.
That they did so in unison -- and immediately after another blown save by Andrés Muñoz, via a game-tying homer from Nick Kurtz -- highlighted the potential of this lineup. It can be a diesel-fueled engine when firing on all cylinders.
“Continue to set the table, because somebody is going to eat at some point,” Rodríguez said. “That's kind of how I see it.”
Raleigh spoke candidly and seemingly through a crystal ball after Tuesday's loss, striking a balance between the “it’s early” adage and what he’s seen in the improved quality of Seattle’s at-bats.
Pressing was a prevailing theme, particularly in high-stakes moments.
“We need to assess where we're at,” Raleigh said, “and be honest and just get back to the little things that kind of helped us last year, when we were going good. And that's using the whole field, trying to take our hits, doing less and big moments, because that's when we really want to do well. So it's kind of just throttling down like that.”
Then his premonition practically willed itself.
The ninth inning began with another gut punch, when J.P. Crawford hit into a double play that shortstop Jacob Wilson Wilson and second baseman Jeff McNeil made a remarkable relay on. A walk-off homer would’ve done the trick, and made for far more flair with two outs.
But instead, Raleigh dribbled a first-pitch fastball from Joel Kuhnel into center field, Rodríguez pulled one past a diving Wilson, then Naylor punched his into the opposite field.
None flashy, all effective.
In a moment that each of them could’ve squeezed a little tighter or swung a little harder, Raleigh, Rodríguez and Naylor did the exact opposite.
“Honestly, just get a hit and end the game,” Naylor said of his approach. “Try to hit a single and try to hit it where the outfielders have to move to the left or right, at least a step or two, which makes it throw it home a little more delayed.”
Little things often lead to big things, and maybe the meat of the Mariners’ order just needed that reminder. Because when they’re all hitting, good things typically happen.