The Mariners and Guardians were tied in extras when things got chaotic. After a string of nasty sweeping sliders, Seattle intentionally walked Jose Ramirez. That left them facing a lefty with sliders not landing as well. They went to the fastball, walked him, and loaded the bases. A pitching change followed. The new arm jammed the hitter with fastballs, leading to a grounder and a throw home. They got the force, but not the double play. A run scored, and fans were frustrated. One key sequence brought up the quirky interference rule. The catcher hesitated to throw near a baserunner straying from the baseline. Since he didn’t throw the ball into the runner, no interference was called even though the runner was out of line. It’s one of those strange rules where no call happens unless there’s contact.
Later, Trevor Stephan faced Eugenio Suarez in a tight, pivotal at-bat. Stephan mixed three pitches—fastball, slider, and split-finger change—keeping Suarez guessing. After four sliders and a fastball, he went back to the split change on a 3-2 count and got a clean swing-and-miss. That pitch hadn’t fooled Suarez earlier, so it was a risky but smart decision. For the final out, with a lefty at the plate, Stephan switched gears. No mix-up this time. He fired inside fastball after inside fastball, jamming the hitter repeatedly. It worked. Three straight inside heaters shut the door. The contrast between those two sequences summed up how pitch selection and location won the game.