Randy Arozarena hit rare milestone in Mariners walkoff win

All-Star slugger Randy Arozarena orchestrated one of the most statistically unusual games in Mariners history Saturday, helping Seattle overcome the Chicago Cubs 5-4 at T-Mobile Park. The 31-year-old outfielder hit a leadoff home run on the first pitch he saw and later ended the game with a two-run walkoff blast.

The two homers placed Arozarena in rare MLB company. He became the seventh player ever to hit both a leadoff and walkoff home run in the same game. Only Arozarena, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Vic Power have accomplished the feat while hitting those home runs on the first and final pitches their teams saw that day. Arozarena also became the first player in the Mariners history to record a leadoff and walkoff homer in the same game.

Arozarena was not originally scheduled to lead off. Brendan Donovan was scratched shortly before first pitch after being hit in the head by a baseball while in the batting cages, moving Arozarena into the top spot. He immediately took advantage, launching a 93.5 mph sinker from Cubs starter David Peterson 416 feet to center field. The ball left his bat at 105.3 mph, making him Seattle’s fifth leadoff hitter to homer this season alongside Donovan, Cole Young, J.P. Crawford and Rob Refsnyder.

His biggest impact, however, came defensively in the third inning. Arozarena robbed Miguel Amaya of a home run, backing up Kade Anderson during the rookie pitcher’s MLB debut. Amaya’s fly ball had 6.2 seconds of hang time, giving Arozarena enough time to retreat toward the warning track, leap and extend his glove over the wall to take the homer away.

Arozarena then completed the comeback in the ninth. The Mariners had gone 1-for-12 after Anderson surrendered the lead in the sixth and entered the bottom of the ninth trailing by two with two outs and nobody on. Weston Wilson doubled, Leo Rivas followed with a single, and Arozarena came to the plate as the potential winning run.

Chicago reliever Jacob Webb opened the matchup with a called strike on a slider before returning to the same pitch. Arozarena crushed it 404 feet to center field for his second homer of the afternoon and Seattle’s first walkoff home run of the season.

The win improved the Mariners to 62-68, with Seattle moving three games behind first-place Houston Astros in the American League West after both the Texas Rangers and Astros lost Saturday. The Mariners also secured the weekend series against the Cubs.

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