Mariners stun Tigers in 15 innings to run winning streak to 5

Five games. The seemingly insurmountable peak has been conquered. Dare they go for six?

After failing to extend season-high winning streaks past four games on three occasions this season, the Mariners finally have breached that threshold and moved to a new season-high streak. It took 4 hours and 51 minutes of baseball — some good, some bad, some never ending —  and 15 innings to secure a 6-5 win over the Detroit Tigers in a game that that started at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday and ended 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

“I’m like our players — very happy and very tired,” manager Scott Servais said. “You never know. The games you just have to keep grinding and grinding.”

Maybe it was fitting that the fifth straight win that had escaped in the past wasn’t any easier to achieve on the fourth attempt.

“It’s kind of how streaks work, especially in this league,” Servais said. “We were due to get one of these streaks. We were playing well.”

Down 5-4 going into the bottom of the 15th, having given up the go-ahead run on a Victor Martinez solo homer, the Mariners wouldn’t go quietly into that good night/early morning.

Kyle Seager, as he did seven innings earlier, tied the score, this time with an RBI single to left to score Nelson Cruz. And with Adam Lind having made a heady play to go first to third, representing the winning run, Mike Zunino drove him home  with a sacrifice fly to center field.

“I was just trying to look for a pitch up there and get the barrel to it,” Zunino  said. “I had a couple tough at-bats against some good relievers earlier. They threw a lot of offspeed stuff, and I was a little bit more aggressive than I wanted to be. I knew he was going to the changeup and breaking ball and just try to see it up and get the barrel to it.”

After getting the equivalent of a shutout from all six relievers in the bullpen — scoreless frames from the sixth through the 14th inning, left-hander Ariel Miranda, who is slated to start Friday night in Oakland, served up a leadoff homer to Victor Martinez to break the 4-4 deadlock that started in the eighth inning. But the rally in the bottom of the inning meant that Miranda got his first big league win.

The Mariners’ fifth win in a row puts them at 59-53 and inching closer in the wild-card race against a Tigers team they now trail by just 1½ games.

Much credit should be given the Mariners’ six-man bullpen unit of Nick Vincent, Vidal Nuno (2), Edwin Diaz, Arquimedes Caminero (2), Drew Storen (2) and Tom Wilhelmsen, who didn’t allow a run after just a five-inning start from Wade LeBlanc.

The six pitchers combined for nine shutout innings, four hits, one walk and 10 strikeouts.

“Some guys ended up pitching tonight that weren’t supposed to pitch,” Servais said. “I appreciate their effort. Even when they aren’t on top of their game or feel that great, you have to go out there and compete and that’s what they did tonight.”

“We missed out a lot of opportunities tonight,” he said. “I think that was most frustrating. I know I did. If I executed a little better, we wouldn’t have to go as long as we did.”

He sat near the top step of the dugout after an awful at-bat in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, he had watched the first pitch from Alex Wilson split the plate for strike one. He yanked the second pitch — a slider inside off the plate — foul. And the third pitch? He waved feebly at an outside fastball for strike three.

In an inning where the Mariners failed to score a run with the bases loaded and no outs, Seager was particularly galled at his effort. He fumed and glared at everything and everyone in his view.

The anger turned to elation two innings later. With two outs and two runners on, Seager jumped on a cutter from lefty Justin Wilson and sent a towering fly ball into the stands in right-center. Seager’s 21st homer of the season turned the 4-1 deficit into a 4-4 tie and eventually forced extra innings.

Had the Mariners not won, the bases-loaded failures and stranding Nelson Cruz at third base with no outs in the fourth inning would have lingered as glaring missed opportunities that changed the outcome of the game.

The Mariners got a middling start from left-hander LeBlanc, who worked five innings, giving up four earned runs, which was remarkable considering he allowed 10 hits and walked three batters during that span.

With a fastball that doesn’t sniff 90 mph, Le­Blanc depends on feel and command for success. And when they aren’t there, the results can be unpleasant. LeBlanc was in a battle from the very pitch of the game, which leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler jerked into the left-field corner for a double. LeBlanc gave up three more hits in a row — a single to Jose Iglesias and run-scoring singles to Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez to put Seattle behind 2-0.

But he limited the damage. A flyout from J.D. Martinez and a double play ended the inning with just two runs allowed.

Cabrera got to LeBlanc to start the third inning, hitting a low screamer over the wall in left field for his 26th homer of the season to make it 3-0.

Seattle cut the lead to 3-1 against Tigers starter Daniel Norris in the fourth inning. Robinson Cano led off with a double into the left-field corner, and Cruz followed with a triple off the wall in right field to give the Mariners a run.

But with no outs, Cruz never left third base. Dae-Ho Lee and Seager both hit shallow fly balls to center, not deep enough for Cruz to tag up and score, and Chris Iannetta grounded out to end the inning.