Trent Thornton Did Something He's Never Done Before in Mariners Win Over Rays

The Seattle Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 on Wednesday afternoon to move to 46-37 on the season. With the win, the M's halted a three-game losing streak and ended a dreary 3-6 roadtrip with a win.

While George Kirby was excellent on the mound in the win - and Cal Raleigh provided a massive three-run homer, reliever Trent Thornton also deserves some big-time credit.

Thornton entered the game with the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth inning and got out of it, helping secure the victory. He came in relief of M's closer Andres Munoz, who walked two batters and hit another to load the bases.

Thornton got a fielders choice which scored one run, and then ended the game by getting Amed Rosario to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

It was a personally historic day for Thornton, who got his first career big league save. It was his 167th career appearance.

He's 3-1 this season with a 3.22 ERA and has become a big part of the bullpen solution for manager Scott Servais. The 30-year-old came to Seattle a season ago after spending parts of five seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. He's been a reliever almost exclusively since 2020 and is 11-17 lifetime with a 4.38 ERA. With Seattle in 2023, he had a 2.08 ERA in 23 games. He's thrown in 36 already this season.

The Mariners will be off on Thursday before taking on the Minnesota Twins on Friday night at T-Mobile Park.