Steven Kwan hits sacrifice fly in 9th to lift the Guardians past the Mariners, 5-4

CLEVELAND (AP) — Brayan Rocchio singled in Nolan Jones with the tying run, then scored on Steven Kwan’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning in the Cleveland Guardians' 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

Jones led off the ninth with a double and came around on Rocchio’s soft hit to left, with left fielder Randy Arozarena throwing the ball away to allow Rocchio to advance to third.

Tim Herrin (5-3) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory that pulled Cleveland within four games of Seattle for the final AL wild-card position. Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz (3-2) recorded one out and gave up two runs, one unearned.

The Guardians trailed 4-0 after five innings before Kyle Manzardo homered in the sixth and Jones added another solo shot in the seventh, both off George Kirby. Angel Martínez pulled the Guardians to 4-3 in the eighth, singling home José Ramírez.

The Mariners scored four times in the first against Logan Allen. Julio Rodríguez and Eugenio Suárez drove in runs before Jorge Polanco cleared the fence in left with his 21st home run of the season.

Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, who leads the majors with 50 homers, went 0 for 1 with three walks. Outfielder Victor Robles began serving a seven-game suspension for throwing his bat at a pitcher on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma.

Mariners relievers Matt Brash and Muñoz allowed three runs, two earned, while combining for four outs. They gave up three hits and a pair of walks after entering to begin the eighth.

Guardians third baseman Ramírez doubled in the first inning for his 826th hit at Progressive Field, becoming the career leader at the 31-year-old ballpark. Omar Vizquel is second with 825.

Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert (4-5, 3.69 ERA) was set to face RHP Gavin Williams (8-5, 3.36 ERA) on Saturday night.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Cleveland Guardians' Kyle Manzardo rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run off Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Seattle Mariners' Eugenio Suarez gabs a bunt by Cleveland Guardians' Brayan Rocchio during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Cleveland Guardians' Brayan Rocchio, right, begins his slide into home plate for the winning run as Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh waits for the throw during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

Cleveland Guardians' Steven Kwan, right, watches his winning sacrifice fly off Seattle Mariners' Andres Munoz as Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, left, looks on during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)

SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — It was Georgia's day at the European figure skating championships Thursday.

Skaters representing the former Soviet nation won the pairs gold medal and took the lead in the men's event at the championships, a key warmup for next month's Winter Olympics.

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava recovered from a fall to win their first European title after silver in 2024 and bronze last year.

The Georgians had the lead from Wednesday's short program and, even though Metelkina fell on a triple toeloop, the rest of their free skate was strong to score 139.80 for a total 215.76.

The two skaters laid on their backs on the ice in relief after finishing their free skate, as Berulava pumped his fists and made a snow angel gesture.

The title defense of Germany's Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin ended with an erratic free skate. Hase fell on a throw triple loop and tumbled to the ice again when Volodin tried to lower her down from their final lift.

Hase seemed in pain as she waited for the scores, and then stunned to see that she and Volodin had scored enough to stay ahead overall of third-place Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary, 203.87 to 202.56.

Georgian figure skater Nika Egadze edged ahead of two Estonian brothers to take the lead in the men's short program.

Egadze scored 91.28 points for the lead after starting his program with a bang, following up a quadruple salchow-triple toeloop combination with a quad toeloop.

That was enough to beat last year's silver medalist Aleksandr Selevko on 88.71 and his younger brother Mihhail on 88.28. Defending champion Lukas Britschgi was sixth for Switzerland.

Estonia is on track for more medals as Niina Petrokina leads the women's event ahead of Friday's free skate.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics

Estonia's Aleksandr Selevko competes during the Men's Short Program on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, Thursday, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Georgia's Nika Egadze competes during the Men's Short Program on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, Thursday, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin compete during the Pairs Free Skating on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava compete during the Pairs Free Skating on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava compete during the Pairs Free Skating on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)