J.P. Crawford picked the perfect moment to break out of his slump.
The Mariners shortstop crushed a walk-off homer, the first of his career, to seal a dramatic 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday night at T-Mobile Park. Facing a 2-0 count, Crawford jumped on a 95 mph fastball from Rangers closer Robert Garcia and sent it 370 feet into the right-field stands.
“Just don’t miss the fastball,” Crawford said postgame. “I put a good swing on it… and thankfully I didn’t miss.”
Crawford had been mired in a rough stretch, hitting just .109 (6-for-55) since the All-Star break and without a home run in 160 at-bats. But his timely blast delivered Seattle’s seventh walk-off win of the season and gave them sole possession of the final AL Wild Card spot. They now sit two games ahead of Texas and 3.5 games behind Houston in the AL West.
