Leo Rivas, Mariners walk off Cubs in extra innings

Ryan Divish, The Seattle Times on Aug 22, 2026

Published in Baseball

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SEATTLE — Would this be like so many disappointing homestand openers?

A big crowd fills T-Mobile Park eager to see the Seattle Mariners back after a road trip, bringing energy and excitement. A belief that being back in the perfect weather of the Pacific Northwest and sleeping in their own beds will increase their victory hopes abounds.

And the Mariners then, of course, find a way to lose, either with a flat uninspiring performance leading to a lopsided loss, or a gut-wrench late-inning blowup, losing a lead in a heartbreaking defeat.

This being the 2026 Mariners, they tried to do both on Friday night vs. the Chicago Cubs.

Instead, Leo Rivas made sure the Mariners and the sellout crowd of 46,018 — the largest of the season — had plenty to cheer about.

Yes, Leo Rivas.

Rivas came off the bench to play the hero, delivering a two-out single to center in the bottom of the 10th, scoring Randy Arozarena from the third base for a 6-5 walkoff victory.

Starter Emerson Hancock allowed three runs just five batters into the top of the first and it looked a blowout was coming.

Pete Crow-Armstrong added to his MVP resume with a leadoff homer off Hancock, and Alex Bregman later yanked a two-run homer just inside the left field foul pole. The large contingent of Chicago fans reveled in the early runs.

But instead of allowing the early deficit to snowball into a lopsided defeat, Hancock limited the damage to just the three runs and came back with a 1-2-3 top of the second.

Meanwhile, his teammates answered with four runs in the bottom of the second, thanks to Cal Raleigh’s game-tying three-run homer off former teammate Matt Boyd, and Brendan Donovan added a two-out RBI single to give the Mariners a lead.

Given a reset to his outing, Hancock gutted his way into the sixth inning. He worked around multiple baserunners in each the third, fourth and fifth without allowing runs.

When he walked off the mound with two outs in the sixth inning with a 5-3 lead, he received a well-deserved standing ovation from Mariners fans. He was an out away from a quality start and kept his team in the game.

The Mariners bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.

Eduard Bazardo gave up a solo homer to Ian Happ in the eighth inning, and Bregman, a longtime nemesis, smashed a game-tying solo homer off Andres Muñoz in top of the ninth that tied the game.