MLB Rankings: Baseball’s Greatest Hits of Week-21
By Bill Felber
MLB Rankings: Greatest Hits in Week-21
6. Mallex Smith, 42 percent
Deep in a disappointing season, Seattle made a small stride toward recouping respectability this week during a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
The M’s upset the Rays’ drive toward a wild card berth by winning on Monday, beat Tampa again on Tuesday but trailed 5-3 entering the ninth inning in search of a sweep.
Tampa turned to Emilio Pagan to secure the final three outs. Pagan has been problematic this season, entering the game with 14 saves but seven blown saves. This would not be one of his classic performances.
Things immediately went bad when Daniel Vogelbach homered on a 2-2 pitch. The Mariners still trailed by a run, but after recording the first out Pagan hit Jake Fraley with a pitch and surrendered a single to Dee Gordon that sent Frakes to third. Gordon compounded the situation by stealing second.
At that moment – one out in the ninth, Mariners trailing 5-4, tying and lead runners in scoring position — the odds of a successful Seattle comeback were 45 percent: plausible but not likely. Pagan worked a 2-2 count on Smith, then fed him a fastball that Smith drove into the right-field corner on one hop. Frakes and Gordon both scored easily, putting Seattle ahead 6-5.
Pagan steadied, retiring the next two batters and stranding Smith at third. The one-run lead Seattle carried into the bottom of the ninth should have been enough to secure the sweep, but that wasn’t the case Wednesday. More on that momentarily.