The Seattle Mariners’ late rally was spoiled by the Kansas City Royals’ walkoff suicide-squeeze bunt in the bottom of the ninth inning on Wednesday night. The Royals were trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth when they put runners on first and third with one out. Royals’ manager Ned Yost called for a suicide-squeeze bunt, which was executed perfectly by Whit Merrifield. The runner on third, Adalberto Mondesi, scored easily to give the Royals a 5-4 victory.
The Mariners had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth inning when Kyle Seager hit a solo home run off Royals’ reliever Ian Kennedy. It was Seager’s second home run of the game and gave the Mariners a late lead. However, the Royals responded in the bottom of the inning with their walkoff victory.
The Royals had taken a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when Mondesi hit a solo home run off Mariners’ reliever Cory Gearrin. The Mariners tied the game in the top of the eighth inning when Dee Gordon scored on a wild pitch.
The Mariners had taken an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Seager hit a two-run home run off Royals’ starter Jakob Junis. The Royals responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Hunter Dozier hit an RBI double and Mondesi scored on a sacrifice fly.
The Mariners had a chance to win the game in the top of the tenth inning when they loaded the bases with one out, but Royals’ reliever Wily Peralta got out of the jam by striking out Seager and getting Gordon to ground out.
The Royals’ walkoff victory was their fourth in five games and improved their record to 10-17. The Mariners dropped to 14-14 with the loss.