Young walks it off and Mariners top Astros in 11 innings

SEATTLE (AP) – Rookie second baseman Cole Young hit a walk-off single in the 11th inning to give the Seattle Mariners a 7-6 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.

Young – who also delivered a game-ending fielder’s choice in the 11th inning of his major league debut – provided some more late-night theatrics in the Emerald City. Just a couple weeks shy of his 22nd birthday, Young went below the zone to drive a splitter from reliever Hector Neris (3-2) into right field, scoring automatic runner Dominic Canzone from third base.

Though the Mariners jumped out to a 4-1 lead after just three innings, their advantage disappeared once Seattle reliever Carlos Vargas lost control of his sinker in the sixth.

He plunked two batters, first Brice Matthews and then Zack Short, which led to warnings being issued to both benches. Jose Altuve, Victor Caratini and Christian Walker all added RBI singles shortly afterward to put the Astros up 5-4.

The Mariners evened it in the eighth thanks to a fortuitous bounce. Astros reliever Bryan Abreu spiked a slider, allowing Randy Arozarena to score with ease from third base on the wild pitch and ultimately force extra innings.

The teams traded runs in the 10th before Eduard Bazardo (4-0) tossed a scoreless inning to set the stage for Young.

Ahead of Young’s game-winning single, Miles Mastrobuoni laid down a terrific sacrifice bunt to advance Canzone to third. Mastrobuoni and teammate Jorge Polanco both executed textbook sacrifice bunts in extra innings.

Young is the first Mariners player 21 or younger with a walk-off hit since Alex Rodriguez on March 31, 1996, against the Chicago White Sox.

Astros right-hander Hunter Brown (9-4, 2.43 ERA) starts Sunday against right-hander Bryan Woo (8-4, 2.75) in the finale of the three-game set.