White Sox lose on another walk-off, Mariners win in 11th

July 21, 2016 GMT
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Chicago White Sox pitcher Dan Jennings walks off the mound after giving up a solo walk-off home run to Seattle Mariners' Leonys Martin in the 11th inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, July 20, 2016, in Seattle. The Mariners beat the White Sox 6-5 in 11 innings. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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Chicago White Sox pitcher Dan Jennings walks off the mound after giving up a solo walk-off home run to Seattle Mariners' Leonys Martin in the 11th inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Wednesday, July 20, 2016, in Seattle. The Mariners beat the White Sox 6-5 in 11 innings. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

SEATTLE (AP) — The Chicago White Sox rediscovered their missing offense, handled the return of Seattle’s pitching ace and saw Todd Frazier homer for the third time in three games. They also held a three-run lead in the seventh inning.

And, they suffered their second walk-off loss of the three-game series.

Leonys Martin hit his second home run of the day, a solo shot with one out in the 11th inning that sent Seattle over the White Sox 6-5 on Wednesday on a day the Mariners got Felix Hernandez back in the rotation.

“It is tough. Especially when you’re leading both of the ones that you lose late,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “Those are always tough to be able to bounce back. And our guys have bounced back, you just need to be able to add on.”

Martin hit a two-run drive in the second inning. He then drove an 0-2 pitch from Dan Jennings (3-2) over the wall in right for his 13th homer. His previous season high was eight homers in 457 at-bats with Texas in 2013.

“It was not a good pitch,” Jennings said. “It was completely on me. Navi (catcher Dioner Navarro) even called for something else, and I shook to it. So that magnifies that it’s truly on me.”

Frazier hit a three-run homer in the first off Hernandez, activated off the disabled list earlier in the day. Frazier’s 28th home run tied him for the major league lead with Baltimore’s Mark Trumbo.

“It was a changeup. I left it up,” Hernandez said. “Frazier’s got pretty good pop and put a good swing on it.”

The White Sox added a run in the second on consecutive two-out singles by Tyler Saladino, Adam Eaton and Melky Cabrera to make it 4-0. Martin answered in the bottom half.

Chicago pushed the lead to 5-2 in the fifth on a leadoff triple by Cabrera and Justin Morneau’s single.

Seattle pulled within 5-4 on Mike Zunino’s two-run homer in seventh off Zach Duke. The Mariners then loaded the bases on a hit batter and two walks, but Robinson Cano bounced into an inning-ending double play.

The Mariners tied in the eighth when Nate Jones allowed a solo shot by Adam Lind, whose pinch-hit, three-run homer in the ninth inning gave Seattle a 4-3 victory on Monday.

“Duke walks the tightrope, but somehow gets out of it,” Ventura said. “You figure you still had it, and you know Lind’s been tough on us. He swung the bat, especially late in the game, with some homers and really hurt us.”

The Mariners nearly won it in the 10th. Nelson Cruz drew a two-out walk and tried to score on Kyle Seager’s double, but right fielder Eaton threw out the Seattle slugger at the plate.

Hernandez allowed five runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two in his first start since May 27.

“Felix, he gave up a few, but their bullpen was great today,” Ventura said. ” “We wish we could have kept adding on. . We had some guys in scoring position. We had chances. We just couldn’t cash in on it. I think their bullpen was great.

STRIKEOUT MACHIINE

Mariners rookie reliever Edwin Diaz struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth inning, giving him six consecutive outs by strikeout. The 22-year-old, hard-throwing right-hander has struck out 42 in 20 2/3 innings, while allowing five runs.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW

In the eighth inning, Seager was called safe at first ahead of a double-play relay. The White Sox challenged and the play was overturned. Lind followed with a solo homer.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP James Shields (4-11, 5.10 ERA) makes his ninth start for Chicago to open a four-game series at home against Detroit. Shields, acquired in early June from San Diego, is 2-2 with a 1.91 ERA in his last four starts.

Mariners: Seattle opens an 11-day, eight-game road trip on Friday at Toronto. LHP James Paxton (2-4, 4.56 ERA) starts the opener, followed by Hisashi Iwakuma (10-6). Mike Montgomery, traded during the game to the Chicago Cubs, had been slated as the Sunday starter.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: With LHP Carlos Rodon (wrist) not ready to come off the disabled list, RHP Jacob Turner will get his second start of the season Friday. He allowed eight runs on seven hits in four innings in an 8-1 loss to the Angels last Sunday.

Mariners: SS Ketel Marte was out for the third straight game with an illness. He was not expected to travel with the team to Toronto on Wednesday night, pending a few more tests, but Servais said he hoped Marte would join the team in time for the series against the Blue Jays that begins Friday.