Jhonny Pereda picked off the go-ahead run then slugged the go-ahead homer to will the Mariners to a much-needed 5-4 win on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
With the game tied 2-2 in the sixth, Chase Meidroth picked up a one-out single off Cooper Criswell. Tristan Peters followed with what looked like an RBI double, but the ball got lodged in the wall down the first base line, keeping runners at second and third. It\u2019d been a frustrating game for the Mariners to that point, with the lineup struggling to string hits together once again. It wasn\u2019t an ideal showing after Tuesday night\u2019s excruciating, hard-feelings loss<\/a>, of which there have been many in recent weeks. With the White Sox threatening to take the lead on a couple weak, seeing-eye hits, the wheels seemed ready to come right off the bus.<\/p>\n Then Drew Romo squared to bunt on the first pitch he saw. It was well outside, prompting him to pull the bat back. Meidroth either took too big of a lead at third or was expecting a safety squeeze \u2014 either way, he was well off the bag. After receiving the pitch, Pereda noticed Meidroth in no man\u2019s land and fired to third. A pickle ensued, and Pereda eventually tagged Meidroth out a few feet from home. It was Pereda\u2019s fifth caught stealing on eight attempts with the Mariners this year, in just his sixth game with the team.<\/p>\n Pereda was focused on simply getting the batter out and it was all reaction from there, he said after the game.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw him take two steps forward, and I took my chance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n With the game still tied at 2-2, Pereda stepped to the plate to leadoff the seventh. Again, the Mariners offense to this point had been frustrating. Cole Young leadoff the game with a walk, and was promptly thrown out trying to steal second. Young later picked up a double in the third inning but was stranded. The Mariners even loaded the bases in the fifth with nobody out, only to go down quickly without a run<\/a>. It was that kind of day for the first six innings.<\/p>\n To be fair, they had scratched across a couple runs. In the second, Randy Arozarena leadoff with a hit by pitch, stole second, and scored on a double from Dominic Canzone<\/a>. In the fourth, Arozarena leadoff with a walk and later scored on a double from Patrick Wisdom<\/a>. But two runs and a bunch of stranded runners proved not quite enough as the White Sox clawed their way back, eventually evening the score.<\/p>\n Back to Pereda: He stepped to the plate to leadoff the bottom of the seventh. Sean Newcomb threw a first-pitch fastball up and in, and Pereda fouled it back. Newcomb returned with a big, slow slurve that hung over the plate, and Pereda saw his chance. He turned on the pitch and slugged it 106.7 mph on a line, zipping it just over the wall in left.<\/p>\n It was Pereda\u2019s first homer in the majors at 30 years old. The ball is already authenticated, labeled, and displayed in a glass box on the shelf in his locker. He said after the game he wasn\u2019t trying to do much and stay in his approach, wanting to get the ball in the air to the pull side every time up.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then it happened,\u201d he said. He could tell off the bat. \u201cThat was so special. As soon as I hit the ball I was like, \u2018Oh my god, my first homer.\u2019 I couldn\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n It seemed to start something for the Mariners. Julio Rodr\u00edguez followed with a double, ripping a hard liner down the left field line. That brought Arozarena to the plate, who got every bit of a hanging sweeper from Jordan Hicks, blasting it 105.1 mph out to left-center and extending the lead to 5-2. In some ways, this was The Randy Arozarena Game, but he\u2019s had a plenty of those in 2026<\/a>, now with a 150 wRC+ on the year (top 20 in the majors).<\/p>\n Of course, the Mariners refused to make this one easy. Eduard Bazardo pitched the eighth and allowed back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second with one out. Peters then hit a double-play ball to Young at second, who flipped to Emerson at the bag, who made a low-ish throw to first. The ball ticked off Josh Naylor\u2019s glove<\/a> and squirted back toward the dugout, allowing a runner to score.<\/p>\n It was that kind of day for the Mariners in the field, too. Emerson Hancock got the start and was sharp as ever in the first inning. But things got dicey in the second. He completely lost the zone and issued three straight walks to load the bases with nobody out. Hancock bounced back, however, getting Peters to punch out, before getting Romo to ground into a double play<\/a>.<\/p>\n That was the extent of Hancock\u2019s command issues for the day, though he did eventually give up some runs. The White Sox got a run in the third on a pair of singles. They got another in the fifth on a trio of singles. Hancock\u2019s final line was five innings, five hits, three walks, two runs, and four strikeouts on 10 whiffs. It wasn\u2019t his best start, but most of the bad parts came and went in the second.<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Ferrer took the mound with a 5-3 lead in ninth, assuming the closer role while Andr\u00e9s Mu\u00f1oz got a day off following Tuesday night\u2019s snafu. The first pitch he threw was a sinker up and out of the zone to pinch hitter Randal Grichuk, who poked it out to right field<\/a> to make the game 5-4. Things were dicey once again.<\/p>\n And then, they weren\u2019t. Strikeout. Strikeout. Strikeout. Ferrer set down the next three in order to finish off a series victory.<\/p>\n Greeting him on the mound and taking part in the infield\u2019s victory dance was Pereda. It\u2019s been a long time coming for the journeyman backup catcher. Pereda signed with the Cubs at 17 and started in Rookie Ball way back in 2013. He bounced around the minors from level to level, organization to organization, before finally making his big league debut in 2024 with the Marlins. But even then, he struggled to find any sort of regular playing time, with just 118 plate appearances in the majors when he signed with the Mariners in January.<\/p>\n