Guardians' long stretch of late-game dominance ends with ninth-inning loss to Mariners

SEATTLE — All good things must come to an end. When it happens with a walk-off loss, the sting is more painful. The Guardians had won 121 straight games when leading after eight innings until closer Emmanuel Clase blew a save Saturday night. Jorge Polanco hit a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning and the Mariners beat Cleveland 4-3. With two outs and the bases loaded, Polanco smacked a single up the middle off Clase (4-1), who blew a save opportunity earlier in the inning when he threw a wild pitch that allowed Dylan Moore to score and tie the game at 3. Clase has blown three saves this season. He gave up two hits and three walks, including two intentional passes "Got in a tough situation, had to put some people on, set up a double play," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "I thought everything went well, we made the adjustments, just didn't get the result." The Mariners jumped to an early lead with a pair of runs in the first off Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee. Cal Raleigh hit an RBI double to left and Polanco added a sacrifice fly. Bibee gave up two runs and four hits in five innings. "I thought Tanner absolutely battled tonight," Vogt said. "Thirty-pitch first inning, just did not look or feel like himself all night long. So for him to battle through five, it was an excellent job by Tanner. That's pitching. That's battling when you don't have your best stuff." The Guardians scored the game's next three runs, including a solo home run by José Ramírez in the fifth, which increased his career-long on-base streak to 39 games, the longest active on-base streak in the majors. "He finds a way to impact the game," Vogt said. "He's one of the best hitters on the planet. He just continues to do incredible things." Those offensive contributions weren't enough to keep the Mariners from coming back, though, and Jackson Kowar (1-0) from earning his first victory of the season with a perfect ninth. Vogt would've preferred a greater margin of error for Clase. "Got some traffic, would like to have scratched across a few more but I thought we had good at-bats," Vogt said. Key moment Dominic Canzone led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, and pinch runner Dylan Moore stole second base. Moore advanced to third on a textbook sacrifice bunt by Cole Young, then Moore scored with ease on Clase's wild pitch. Key stat Seattle starter George Kirby's streak of 68 consecutive starts walking two or few batters was snapped with three walks. It is the third-longest streak in major league history, trailing only right-handers Carlos Silva and Cy Young. Up next Right-hander Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.04 ERA) will start for the Mariners today against Guardians right-hander Luis Ortiz (3-7, 4.26) in the final game of the three-game set.