SF Giants suffer brutal loss to Mariners in extras after blowing four-run lead

The Giants entered Friday night’s game against the Mariners with one of the more unique advantages they’ll have for the rest of the season.

Seattle, yes, has been scuffling of late, having lost seven of its last eight games heading into this series, but that’s not where San Francisco held the upper hand. On Thursday, the Mariners announced that they had fired manager Scott Servais. The decision was likely a shock for most of Seattle’s clubhouse. The Giants, then, possessed the edge in stability.

They didn’t just fail to capitalize. They imploded.

Tyler Rogers allowed four runs and failed to retire a single batter he faced in the eighth inning, surrendering six consecutive singles and blowing a four-run lead in a historically bad night on the mound. That set the stage for Seattle’s Leo Rivas to hit a walk-off single off Erik Miller in the 10th inning and handing San Francisco a 6-5 loss. Not only are the Giants back at .500, but they’ve lost ground in the Wild Card standings, too, with the Diamondbacks (73-56), Padres (73-57) and Braves (69-59) all winning on Friday.

So much for that advantage.

The Giants entered the bottom of the eighth inning with a 96% chance of winning, according to Baseball Savant. Not only were they winning 5-1, but they had Rogers on for the eighth inning with closer Ryan Walker available for the ninth inning. Rogers hadn’t allowed an earned run in the month of August, and the Mariners’ offense, a unit whose only run of the night came by way of a solo home run, was one of baseball’s worst.

Rogers left the mound at T-Mobile Field without recording an out. He faced six batters. He allowed six singles that resulted in four runs and a tie ballgame. The last hit was arguably the most infuriating, a 64.9 mph bloop that dropped into left field. Rogers became the first pitcher in Giants history (since 1901) to allow six hits without recording a single out. The last Giants’ pitcher to allow at least five hits without recording a single out was Jeremy Affeldt, who did so on two occasions.

Walker entered the ballgame with his back immediately against the wall. Tie ballgame. Runner on first. Runner on second. Due up: Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, Randy Arozarena. The Mariners had all the firepower necessary to push across the go-ahead run. Walker wasn’t having it, dousing waters on the flames by retiring all three batters, getting the Giants to the ninth inning with a tie ballgame.

Seattle’s Andrés Muñoz pitched a clean top half of the ninth, and Walker matched him in the bottom half of the frame by striking out the side. To extras the two teams went. The Giants failed to score in the 10th. The Mariners, needing only one run, wouldn’t miss their opportunity.