PEORIA, Ariz.
The man who holds the key to the Mariners’ quest to return to contender status might be a lanky 6-foot-6 newcomer with arresting deep-set eyes searching for redemption in the game’s highest-leverage situations.
Steve Cishek is a right-hander with a sweeping side-arm delivery who, at 29, is just one year (and two clubs) removed from ranking among the game’s elite closers.
A year ago, it took only two bad months at Miami to strip away that status before Cishek found equilibrium as a setup reliever for the Marlins and, after a July 24 trade, the St.