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Andrés Muñoz breaks down mindset amid Mariners’ offensive explosion
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- Andrés Muñoz breaks down mindset amid Mariners’ offensive explosion
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Trailing 2-1 in Game 5 of the ALCS, the Seattle Mariners rallied. Eugenio Suarez's grand slam capped a wild five-run inning that put Seattle up 6-2 entering the ninth. While it wasn't a save situation, a win in Game 5 would arguably be the biggest victory in franchise history. The Mariners are the only team in baseball to never reach the World Series. In fact, Seattle had never won three games in a Championship Series.
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Manager Dan Wilson wasn't taking any chances. Andres Munoz was brought in to secure the historic win. And the All-Star closer worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning, giving the Mariners a 3-2 ALCS lead.
After the win, with the capacity crowd at T-Mobile Park in celebration mode, Munoz attempted to describe the moment . "It's awesome, the energy that these fans bring here is awesome. I always say the same thing, we play for them. We just want to make the city proud and we're going to continue doing that," Munoz told Jon Morosi of MLB Network.
Andres Munoz seals Mariners' Game 5 win
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The Blue Jays had the Mariners on the ropes in the ALCS after back-to-back blowout wins . Toronto was on the verge of winning three straight games in Seattle when the Mariners answered back.
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Cal Raleigh tied the game with a solo home run in the eighth inning. Four batters later, Suarez broke the game open with a go-ahead grand slam.
The Mariners recognized the importance of winning Friday with the series shifting back to Toronto for Game 6. So the team had Munoz warming up in the bottom of the eighth. The veteran reliever was going to pitch the ninth inning with or without the lead.
But the Mariners were suddenly up 6-2 after a five-run outburst. "It was weird for me," Munoz said of warming up during the team's offensive explosion. "The pitching coach did a really good job with me, trying to calm me down… We managed it really good and came up with a good result."
Munoz made his second straight All-Star game in 2025 with another stellar season. And he's continued to dominate in the playoffs. The sixth-year righty hasn't allowed a hit in 7.1 scoreless postseason innings. On Friday, he helped the Mariners get within one win of the World Series.
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"Obviously I was nervous but like I always do, I tried to do my best with every pitch. That's what I did today and thank God we won."
Related: Mariners complete ALCS feat at home not seen since 2000
Related: Mariners' Cal Raleigh calls 8th inning rally the 'loudest moment' of his Seattle career
