Rockies 7, Mariners 5 (11)
DENVER -- Michael McKenry hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning on Wednesday to give the Colorado Rockies a 7-5 win over the Seattle Mariners.
First baseman Ben Paulsen singled with one out in the 11th for his third hit of the game and after Mayckol Guaipe (0-3) struck out left fielder Kyle Parker, McKenry belted his fourth homer of the season for the first walk-off hit of his career.
Yohan Flande (2-1), who is scheduled to start Saturday at Washington, was the eighth Colorado pitcher. He threw 16 pitches in the 11th and came away with his second major league win in the four-hour, six-minute marathon.
The Rockies scored twice in the ninth to send the game into extra innings. After Joe Beimel struck out right fielder Carlos Gonzalez to open the ninth, closer Fernando Rodney
issued a walk followed by Paulsen's run-scoring double. Parker flared a single to right that scored Paulsen to tie it at 5, tagging Rodney with his sixth blown save in 22 chances.
Franklin Gutierrez hit a two-run homer in the seventh that sent the Mariners ahead 5-3 and put Taijuan Walker in line for the victory. After throwing a one-hitter and yielding one run in his last start Friday at Minnesota, Walker limited the Rockies to five hits in 7 1/3 innings and three runs, all of them scoring on Gonzalez's three-run homer in the sixth.
Gutierrez's fourth homer of the year came against reliever John Axford. It was the second tiebreaking hit in as many games for Gutierrez, who delivered a two-run, pinch single in the sixth inning on Tuesday night.
Axford, who was taken out of the closer's role last week, has been scored upon in five of his past seven outings. During that span, Axford is 2-3 with four blown saves and a 13.50 ERA (6 2/3 innings, 10 earned runs).
Rockies starter Chris Rusin held the Mariners to two hits through three innings before they batted around and scored three runs in the fourth. The rally included a run-scoring double by Walker for his first major league hit.
Right fielder Nelson Cruz led off by lining a double off the out-of-town scoreboard in right field to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, three shy of his career high. Second baseman Robinson Cano, Gutierrez and center fielder Austin Jackson followed with successive singles, giving the Mariners a 2-0 lead.
With two outs and runners on first and third, Walker grounded a double over first base that might have scored two runs rather than one, but the ball hit off the padding down the right field line and was picked up by the Rockies security attendant stationed nearby. He realized his error and quickly tossed the ball aside, but the hit was ruled a ground-rule double.
Walker had gone hitless in six at-bats with four strikeouts and a sacrifice in seven career plate appearances before the double.
Gonzalez's homer came after pinch-hitter Drew Stubbs led off the sixth with a bloop double to right field. Walker issued a two-out walk to third baseman Nolan Arenado, and Gonzalez drove his 22nd home run off the back wall of the Seattle bullpen in right center for his fifth three-run homer of the season.
NOTES: Mariners RF Nelson Cruz is the fifth player in major league history to homer in at least five consecutive games twice in the same season. The others are Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew (1970 Twins), Hall of Famer Frank Thomas (1994 White Sox), Barry Bonds (2001 Giants) and Chase Utley (2008 Phillies). ... Mariners LHP Vidal Nuno, who made a spot start Tuesday, will start again when his turn in the rotation comes up Monday against Baltimore. ... The Mariners scored 18 runs in the first two games of this series, and 14 of those runs have scored with two outs. ... Rockies RHP Scott Oberg in 34 innings has allowed nine homers, the latest to Mariners RF Nelson Cruz on Tuesday night. ... OF/1B Kyle Parker, who was recalled Saturday, made his third straight start. The Rockies plan to give him regular playing time during the balance of the season to evaluate him. ... Rockies LF Kyle Parker jumped into the stands to catch a foul ball hit by SS Ketel Marte in the sixth.