The crowd at T-Mobile Park has been waiting all week to move the earth again for the Seattle Mariners. They got their chance Friday night.
An eighth-inning grand slam by Geno Suárez sent more than 46,000 fans into a frenzy and triggered seismic activity registered by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN). The organization, which monitors earthquakes and volcanoes in Washington and Oregon, installed a sensor inside the stadium for the Mariners’ home playoff games.
Suárez’s second home run of the game put the M’s ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 and sealed Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, which the Mariners now lead, 3-2. The team is one win from its first ever trip to the World Series as the best-of-7 series shifts back to Toronto.
PNSN’s device — nicknamed “Richter Rizzs” after longtime Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs — picked up sizable seismic energy a week ago when Jorge Polanco hit a game-winning single to win a 15-inning marathon against the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of the American League Division Series.
The device, which measures vertical ground motion, registered activity after big plays throughout Friday’s game, including an earlier home run by Suárez that gave the M’s a 1-0 lead and a home run by Cal Raleigh that tied the game at 2-2.
The grand slam was the biggest show.
PNSN has done monitoring during Seattle Seahawks games — including for the famous “Beast Quake” — and at concerts.
The idea to measure shaking at T-Mobile Park came after Raleigh said he could feel the stadium vibrating during Game 2 of the ALDS earlier this month.
A video during the Suárez slam on Friday (below) showed the PNSN team contributing to some of the shaking in right field as a laptop displayed the seismic activity in real time.
“After Geno’s grand slam, I’m not sure I’ve heard that building any louder than that,” M’s manager Dan Wilson said after the game. “You can’t say enough about the support we’ve received from these fans this year.”
