Iannetta's 11th-inning homer caps Mariners' sweep
SEATTLE -- Chris Iannetta completed a four-hour game, and a Mariners sweep, with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 11th inning as Seattle beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-5 Wednesday afternoon.
Iannetta hit a 3-2 pitch from Tampa Bay reliever Steve Geltz (0-1) over the center field fence for the walk-off homer and the Mariners' third consecutive win.
Reliever Steve Johnson (1-0) earned his first win as a Mariner after pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Seattle squandered a 4-0 lead in the sixth and a 5-4 advantage in the ninth before Iannetta provided the game-winner in the 11th.
Tampa Bay's Kevin Kiermaier tied the score 5-5 with a one-out, ninth-inning solo homer. Kiermaier's fourth home run of the season came off Seattle reliever Nick Vincent, who was in a save situation for only the second time this season because closer Steve Cishek was getting the day off.
Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz provided the go-ahead RBI with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Cruz's flyout to left scored Robinson Cano from third to break a 4-4 tie.
Tampa Bay designated hitter Corey Dickerson hit the first grand slam of his career to lead a Rays comeback from an early deficit. Seattle's Nelson Cruz led off the third with a solo homer that put the Mariners ahead 4-0.
At that point, Seattle appeared on its way to a series sweep as starter Taijuan Walker settled into a groove over the first five innings. However, Walker started having some control problems in the sixth, when he loaded the bases before Dickerson hit the first pitch he saw over the left-center-field fence for a grand slam that tied the score 4-4.
Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer allowed four runs on five hits over five innings while walking four. He struck out five.
Walker allowed four runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked three, struck out nine and was cruising -- at one point, Walker retired 11 consecutive Rays -- before hitting a wall in the sixth.
Archer got into trouble from the outset. The first hitter he faced, Seattle outfielder Nori Aoki, singled off him before Archer issued walks to three of the next four batters he faced.
A bases-loaded walk to Kyle Seager drove in Aoki for a 1-0 lead. Seth Smith followed with a bases-loaded single, driving in a pair of runs.
The Cruz homer increased the lead to 4-0 in the third.
Tampa Bay's Brandon Guyer hit a one-out double in the sixth, then Walker issued back-to-back walks to load the bases for Dickerson. The designated hitter hit Walker's first pitch over the fence for his eighth home run of the season.
NOTES: Rays INF Steve Pearce made his second start of the season at second base Wednesday. Pearce has spent most of the season at first base but was filling in while 2B Logan Forsythe recovers from a bruised shoulder. ... Forsythe was out of the starting lineup for a second consecutive day Wednesday after getting hit by a pitch Monday night. The Rays are hopeful that he will be back in action Friday. ... Both the Rays and Mariners have Thursday off. Seattle hosts the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, while Tampa Bay begins a three-game series in Oakland on Friday. ... The Mariners announced their pitching rotation for the upcoming series with Los Angeles, and there are no changes. RHP Nathan Karns is scheduled to be on the mound Friday, followed by RHP Hisashi Iwakuma on Saturday and RHP Felix Hernandez on Sunday. ... Tampa Bay's rotation for the weekend series at Oakland has RHP Jake Odorizzi (Friday), RHP Matt Andriese (Saturday) and LHP Matt Moore (Sunday).