Montes hits leadoff homer in the 9th to lift the Mariners over the Rockies, 5-4

DENVER (AP) — Lazaro Montes led off the ninth inning with a 426-foot home run and the Seattle Mariners beat the Colorado Rockies 5-4 on Friday night.

The Mariners are six games back of the Chicago White Sox for the third AL wild card with eight games remaining.

J.P. Crawford hit his 18th career leadoff homer, Randy Arozarena had three hits and Carlos Vargas (2-0) got one out for Seattle (72-82).

Montes' blast into the second deck off Jordan Romano (0-4) gave Seattle its second straight win. Cole Carrigg led off the bottom of the ninth with a single, stole second but was picked off by Andres Munoz, who struck out Mickey Moniak to pick up his 28th save.

Colorado’s TJ Rumfield singled to extend his on-base streak to 22 games, the longest by a rookie in franchise history. The Rockies (56-98) are on the verge of being the first team since the 1965 New York Mets to lose 100 or more games in four straight seasons.

Rockies rookie starter Gabriel Hughes pitched 4 2/3 innings and remained winless in 13 starts and 14 games. He needed 34 pitches to get through the first but retired 11 straight before a one-out walk in the fifth.

Crawford hit his 13th home run and Josh Naylor added a two-run single in the three-run first inning. The Rockies scored single runs in the first and fourth against starter Bryan Woo, who allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings, and took the lead in the fifth on Jake McCarthy's RBI triple and Connor Norby's run-scoring single.

The Mariners tied it on Dominic Canzone’s sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Mariners RHP Bryce Miller (4-9, 4.19) was set to make his first Coors Field appearance and second career start against Colorado on Saturday night. The Rockies had not announced a starter.

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Colorado Rockies center fielder Cole Carrigg heads to the dugout after the top of the third inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Seattle Mariners' Josh Naylor gestures to the dugout after reaching first base on a two-run single off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Gabriel Hughes in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo works against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh strikes out against Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Gabriel Hughes in the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Seattle Mariners second baseman Cole Young, left, misses a pickoff throw as Colorado Rockies' Jake McCarthy, right, steals second in the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — J'Koby Williams and Cameron Dickey ran for second-half touchdowns and defending Big 12 champion No. 13 Texas Tech held on for a 28-26 victory Friday night when Houston quarterback Conner Weigman came up just short of a 2-point conversion in the final minute.

Weigman's third TD pass, a 10-yarder to Patrick Overmyer with 49 seconds left, gave the Cougars (2-1, 0-1) a chance to tie in the conference opener for both teams. On the try for 2, Weigman took off to the left and lunged forward with the ball extended, though his knee came down before the ball broke the plane of the end zone.

The audience viewing on Fox Sports was able to watch and listen to the Big 12 replay officials at the conference headquarters reviewing and discussing that play before ruling that Weigman was short. That was one of several replays on which viewers got an inside look.

Will Hammond was 17-of-27 passing for 257 yards and a touchdown for the Red Raiders (3-0, 1-0), who were down 10-0 with just one offensive snap only 9 1/2 minutes into their first Friday home game since 1941.

Weigman finished 27 of 38 for 282 yards.

After only two carries for 5 yards before halftime, Williams had consecutive runs of 19, 5 and 29 yards — the last a burst through the left side and pretty much untouched to the end zone to make it 21-17 only 2 1/2 minutes into the second half. Dickey had a 1-yard scoring run with 7:36 left.

Houston led 17-14 just before halftime after Koby Young made an over-the-shoulder catch and pinned the ball against his shoulder pads while falling over the pylon for a 46-yard touchdown.

Hammond, Tech's primary quarterback, had a 28-yard pass to Kenny Johnson to convert third-and-12 before they also hooked up for a 35-yard touchdown a minute into the second quarter. Johnson finished with four catches for 113 yards.

Jonathan Dimas kicked a 31-yard field goal for the Cougars on the game’s opening drive, and they immediately got the ball back on Will James’ nifty pick along the sideline when Tommy Castellanos, who started instead of Hammond, was trying to throw away the ball while under pressure.

That led to Amare Thomas’ 11-yard TD reception when he twisted and extended the ball lunging forward toward the end zone while being knocked down for a 10-0 lead. He was initially marked short, but it became a score after a replay review.

Castellanos, the former Florida State and Boston College QB, didn’t join the Red Raiders until a week before the season opener. After that first play, he didn't take another snap until his 3-yard TD run with 3:39 left.

Houston: The Cougars were 6-0 in road games last season on way to a 10-win season. ... Houston had 104 yards rushing by halftime, and finished with 176 against a Texas Tech defense whose seven-game streak not allowing 100 in a game was the longest in FBS.

Texas Tech: The Red Raiders won their 10th consecutive home game, though they gave up more than 17 points for the first time in that stretch. It is their longest home winning streak since 12 in a row from 2007-09.

Both teams play their final nonconference game at home Sept. 26. Houston hosts Georgia Southern, and Texas Tech takes on Sam Houston.

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Houston quarterback Conner Weigman (1) leaps out of bounds after running the ball against Texas Tech during the first half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Justin Rex)