Ugly throwing error allows Mariners to walk off White Sox in extra innings for series sweep

SEATTLE — The Mariners finished off a sweep of the White Sox Thursday as an ugly throwing error by Josh Rojas in extra innings kept Seattle alive to walk it off with an RBI single.

The Sox' deflating loss closed out a 2-4 road trip that still showed signs of promise for the rebuilding team.

The Sox’ All-Star rookie Shane Smith showed some of his best stuff while sailing through his first turn through the high-powered Mariners batting order until serving up a 108 mph two-run home run to Randy Arozarena in the third inning. That was the only score he gave up in his sharpest start since mid-June, giving up two hits and striking out eight over five innings.

The Sox didn’t get a hit off Seattle starter Logan Gilbert until a one-out double in the fourth inning from Luis Robert Jr., who extended a 23-game on-base streak with a 3-for-4 day at the plate with a walk.

Michael A. Taylor closed the gap to 2-1 with a 375-foot rainbow into the left-field bullpen in the fifth inning for his second homer in as many days.

Third baseman Brooks Baldwin tied it up in the seventh, tagging M's reliever Carlos Vargas for his sixth homer of the year.

Robert stole his 31st base of the season and the 100th of his career to get into scoring position in the eighth inning, two days after tagging the 100th career home run. That puts him alongside Minnie Miñoso, Ray Durham and Alexei Ramírez as the only players in White Sox’ 100/100 club.

A Curtis Mead single got Robert to third base but Seattle reliever Matt Brash got out of the jam. The Sox left 12 runners on base and went 1-for-17 with runners in scoring position.

An intentional walk and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases in the 10th against Seattle reliever Eduard Bazardo, whose wild pitch brought Lenyn Sosa home for the lead.

Rojas, a defensive replacement in the 10th, fielded a bunt off Sox reliever Tyler Gilbert but airmailed it down the right-field line to allow the Mariners to tie it back up.

The Sox held on until Dominic Canzone's walk-off single ended it in the 11th inning.

Despite their series loss, a 2-4 West Coast swing has to feel pretty for a team that says there aren’t moral victories anymore for a last-place squad that has already surpassed last season’s historically low win total after a 10-8 run since the All-Star break.

They’re 15 games ahead of the 2024 team’s pace, and avoiding a third consecutive 100-loss season — which seemed like a lock just a month ago — suddenly seems like a possibility. They’ll need to go no worse than 21-26 the rest of the way to do that, which doesn’t feel out of the question in a rejuvenated clubhouse.

“I think the confidence going into these series — it used to be, hey, we're just happy to be here. We're happy to put some good ABs together, put some good outings together, learn some stuff. [Now] I think there's a general disappointment when you go out there and play the way we did,” Davis Martin said after surrendering five earned runs in the Sox’ series-opening 8-3 loss to Seattle Tuesday.

“I just don't think there's a complacency anymore. We think we can come in here and win a series. We don't see why we can't. So just have to continue to do the right things and then learn from our mistakes,” Martin said.

The Sox nearly climbed out of the 7-1 hole that starter Jonathan Cannon dug them into early in Wednesday’s matchup, with late homers from Mike Tauchman, Lenyn Sosa and Taylor bringing the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the ninth inning before they fell 8-6.

“I think that speaks to the kind of guys we’ve got on this team, to be able to battle back from a six-run deficit in the second inning,” Cannon said.

“We're not happy with the results, but how you lose matters, and these guys went out there and continued to fight,” manager Will Venable said. “They have all year, and for me, I'm pleased with that.”