Eric Thames had already struck out three straight times when he came to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning to face baseball's most dominant closer. The Seattle Mariners were all even with the Tampa Bay Rays after Justin Smoak's sacrifice fly off Fernando Rodney, who came into the game with a 0.82 ERA and the American League lead in saves. Chone Figgins stood on third, and Thames fell into an 0-2 hole. Thames took a pitch, and then focused on low and away. He was able to flip Rodney's next changeup into short right field to score Figgins, giving the Mariners a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay on Tuesday night that snapped the Rays' seven-game winning streak.
