Mariners gown for achievement in matchup vs. Rangers

Decades ago, Nike created a TV commercial for Air Jordans in which Mars Blackmon, a fictional character portrayed by Spike Lee, exclaimed “It’s gotta be the shoes” when referring to NBA superstar Michael Jordan’s exploits.

For the Seattle Mariners, it’s gotta be the unis.

After rallying for victories the past two nights while wearing their Nike City Connect uniforms, expect the M’s to don their rush blue jerseys and black pants again Sunday afternoon when they wrap up a four-game series with the visiting Texas Rangers.

“I mean, we kind of have to, don’t we?” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said about wearing the uniforms. “We have to.”

The Mariners generally only wear their City Connects on Friday nights. The uniforms feature an upside-down trident on the caps akin to the franchise’s original logo, “Seattle” in lettering across the front in a similar font to that used by the 1969 Seattle Pilots, and black pants to honor the Negro Leagues’ Seattle Steelheads.

In the aftermath of Friday’s come-from-behind, 5-4 victory — Julio Rodriguez hit a three-run homer into the second deck in left field with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning — the Mariners went with the same look Saturday.

Rodriguez again went deep into the second deck, and Randy Arozarena singled with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to score the winning run in another 5-4 decision.

That gave the Mariners (76-73), who pulled within 2 1/2 games of Minnesota in the race for the American League’s third and final wild-card playoff berth, a 14-1 record this season while wearing those uniforms.

Victor Robles sparked the ninth-inning rally Saturday with a one-out double into the left-field corner and proceeded to steal third. Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh walked to load the bases. With the infield drawn in, Arozarena hit a liner off the glove of diving shortstop Josh Smith to win it.

Robles swiped two bags to improve to 25-for-25 on stolen-base attempts since joining the Mariners as a free agent on June 5. That includes 11 steals of third.

“How much is their aggressive base-running a part of tonight? Yeah, we have to do a better job,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “Yeah, that’s on the pitchers. You know, be a little quicker and watch them. We knew that coming into the game, and it put us in a tough situation there.”

Texas got two-run homers from Leody Taveras and Marcus Semien, but that was the extent of its offense.

The Rangers are scheduled to send left-hander Andrew Heaney (5-13, 3.84 ERA) to the mound in the series finale against Mariners right-hander George Kirby (11-11, 3.77).

Heaney, who is 4-9 with a 4.35 ERA in 22 career appearances against Seattle, including 20 starts, has lost twice to the M’s this season. On April 25 in Arlington, Texas, he gave up four runs on five hits over six innings of a 4-3 defeat. On June 14 in Seattle, he allowed three runs on six hits in 4 2/ 3 innings of a 3-2 defeat.

Heaney snapped an eight-start winless streak last Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels, going six innings in a 7-4 victory.

Kirby beat the Rangers 7-5 on June 15 in Seattle, allowing one unearned run on three hits over six innings, to improve to 5-0 with a 1.08 ERA in seven career starts against them.

–Field Level Media