Mariners drop Diamondbacks behind Mitch Haniger's grand slam

SEATTLE — Mitch Haniger earned the fastball in the strike zone.

With the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning, right-hander Scott McGough was simply trying to survive a situation he didn’t expect to be in, having replaced injured Arizona Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen two batters earlier.

Haniger knew McGough was searching for a ground ball for a double play and wanted to avoid giving him a fastball he could get in the air. Even with a boisterous crowd of 33,997 at T-Mobile Park cheering for baseball’s ultimate result and his team leading by one run, he wouldn’t give in to ambition or adrenaline. He just wanted something out of the infield to add to the Mariners’ one-run lead.

He was in no rush to swing early, watching a first-pitch sinker for a strike.

“With the bases loaded, the pressure is all on the pitcher,” former Mariner Kyle Seager used to say.

McGough tried to get him to chase with back-to-back splitters out of the strike zone. Haniger “spit” on both, seeing they were out of the zone immediately out of the pitcher’s hand. Haniger took a vicious hack at the 2-1 splitter, fouling it off. But when he didn’t chase a 2-2 fastball that was in the dirt, Haniger knew he’d won the mini-battle and McGough would have to throw a pitch in the strike zone.

It was a 94-mph fastball on the inner half of the plate. Haniger sent it just over the wall for a grand slam, turning another game trending toward late-inning tension into a comfortable 6-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

A drama-free win to start the six-game homestand after a grueling series against the Texas Rangers was an ideal outcome for the Mariners. It was their eighth victory in their last 10 games.

But as has been the case in most of the Mariners wins this season, it also was reliant on a strong outing from the starting pitcher.

Continuing to show steady improvement with each outing, rookie Emerson Hancock delivered his third consecutive quality start — six-plus innings pitched, three runs or fewer allowed.

Hancock worked an efficient six innings, allowing just one run on two hits with a hit batter, two walks and four strikeouts to improve to 3-2 on the season.

It was the Mariners 15th quality start of the season — the most in the American League — and their 12 th in the last 14 games. But in each of those 14 games, Seattle starters allowed two runs or fewer in their outings.