Mariners’ comeback matches legendary Red Sox postseason game
On Saturday night, the Seattle Mariners were losing badly to the Toronto Blue Jays.
And then, they weren’t.
Down 8-1 after five innings, the Mariners put up four runs in the sixth. The Jays countered with their ninth run in the bottom of the inning, but Seattle roared back with four more in the top of the eighth to tie it and one more run in the top of the ninth
As the Mariners inched closer to victory, the brilliant Sarah Langs noted that it would be the largest comeback win in a postseason road game and the largest comeback to clinch a postseason series ever. After American League Rookie of the Year shoo-in Julio Rodriguez raced in from deep center to catch the final out, it officially was.
It was a historic resurgence and a thrilling achievement for a franchise that hadn’t played in October for 21 years. However, it wasn’t the first time a team had come back from a 7-run deficit to win a postseason game. The 1929 Philadelphia A’s surmounted an 8-run divide to win Game 4 of the World Series, and in Game 5 of the 2008 ALCS, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Tampa Bay Rays after trailing by seven runs.
Shortly after midnight on October 17, 2008, the defending-champion Sox had two outs and a pair of runners angling to come home in the bottom of the ninth. J.D. Drew singled over Gabe Gross’ head and the Sox walked it off for the 11th time in franchise postseason history.
But enough about the Red Sox; their season is over. This is the Mariners’ time, and it’s a thrill to watch another team end a drought. Hopefully, their postseason run turns out better than 2008 did for the Sox.
