8/31/22

Mariners 5, Tigers 3

(Detroit, MI) Seattle Mariner fans are not shy about sharing their opinions. Ever since the Mariners traded Kendall Graveman last season for Abraham Toro, fans have not been necessarily happy. Despite a down year, Toro in his second game back from a stint in Triple-A was the difference maker with a clutch home run to power the Mariners to a 5-3 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.

Another young pitcher was on the mound for the Tigers in game two of the three game series. Tyler Alexander walked Julio Rodriguez to lead off the ball game but would follow that up with back-to-back strikeouts of Ty France and Mitch Haniger. The Mariners wouldn’t let him have his easy inning as Eugenio Suarez continued his recent power surge with an opposite field home run to right. The two-run shot was Geno’s 25th of the season to give Seattle a quick 2-0 lead.

Marco Gonzales got the start for the Mariners and it was clear he wasn’t as sharp as his previous start against Cleveland. After getting out of trouble in the 1st, the southpaw found himself in hot water in the bottom of the 2nd. After a single by Eric Haase to lead off the inning, Gonzales would hit Kerry Carpenter to put runners on first and second. A wild pitch moved the runners up and Jeimer Candelario would single to left to score Haase and make it 2-1. A fielder’s choice by Willi Castro would cut down Candelario at second but scored Carpenter to even the game at 2-2. Gonzales then hit his second batter of the inning in Riley Greene to put runners on first and second with one out. A Victor Reyes fly out and a nice catch by Suarez at third to take away a hit from Javy Baez got Marco out of the jam but not before the Tigers evened up the ballgame.

Detroit would put together another threat against Gonzales in the bottom of the 6th. Eric Haase reached on a one out single. Kerry Carpenter then lined one into right field for a base hit. Haase would get to third but Haniger would cut off the ball from getting to the warning track and throw a dart to secon to get Carpenter for the second out. The Tigers would still cash in as Jeimer Candelario came through with a two out RBI single to center to make it 3-2 Detroit.

That lead would disappear quickly. Alex Lange took over for the Tigers in the top of the 7th and got Cal Raleigh to line out. Adam Frazier then lined one to the gap in right-center for extra bases. Frazier lost his helmet rounding second but reached third for his third triple of the season. It wouldn’t matter what base he was on as Abraham Toro jumped all over a first pitch curveball and sent it over the right field wall for his ninth home run of the season. Another big home run for Toro put the Mariners back in front 4-3.

In the top of the 9th the Tigers brought in their dangerous closer Gregory Soto despite trailing. He would walk Cal Raleigh on four pitches to lead off the inning before retiring Adam Frazier and J.P. Crawford. Soto would again lose the strike zone by walking Sam Haggerty. Julio Rodriguez hit a bouncing ball up the middle that was snagged by second baseman Willi Castro. Castro’s only play was at second and he would get Haggerty. However, Scott Servais would challenge the play and the call was overturned to load the bases with two outs. Ty France would battle from behind in the count to draw a bases loaded walk and add an insurance run to make it 5-3 Seattle. Mitch Haniger then hit a deep fly ball to right, but the Comerica Park would hold it as Victor Reyes made the catch on the warning track to end the inning.

Paul Sewald came on to pitch the bottom of the 9th. Sewald is as consistent of a reliever as the Mariners have on their roster. A quick pop up by Jeimer Candelario would be put away by Sam Haggerty in left field. He would then lose a long battle with Willi Castro and would walk him to bring up the tying run and the top of the order in Riley Greene. Sewald struck out Greene for the second out. Sewald lost the strike zone as he walked Victor Reyes to bring the winning run to the plate in the power hitting Javy Baez. Sewald would once again find his grove and let out a victorious yell after punching out Baez to give the Mariners the 5-3 win.

Seattle (72-58) is now a season high 14 games over .500 as they have the opportunity for the sweep of Detroit. Both Tampa Bay and Baltimore won on Wednesday but the Toronto Blue Jays lost to create more space between the Mariners and Blue Jays. Seattle sits in the second AL Wild Card spot just half a game behind Tampa Bay for the top spot. The M’s are a game and a half ahead of the third Wild Card team in Toronto and 3.5 games ahead of Baltimore. The Mariners will go for the sweep of the Tigers on Thursday at 10:10a. Logan Gilbert (10-5, 3.49 ERA) will try to end his long drought without a win in the finale as he takes on the veteran of the Tigers staff in Eduardo Rodriguez (3-3, 3.60 ERA).

Matt’s Takeaway

It feels like every time Abraham Toro is written off, he comes up with a big hit to help the Mariners win a ball game. I’m guilty of doubting Toro especially when he first showed up in Seattle. I know it is a small sample size but in his first two games back Toro looks to be a completely different player. He looks focused on helping this team with every single at bat. It’s time for us as Mariner fans to give him support down the stretch. Also, it was nice for the offensive to pick up a pitcher and help get him off the hook. Sure, it was only three runs allowed by Marco Gonzales, but he clearly wasn’t on his game. After what this rotation has done for the offense, it was nice to see the script flipped and the offense picking up their pitcher.

Notable Performences

Mariners

• Abraham Toro- 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Eugenio Suarez- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Marco Gonzales (W, 10-12)- 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO

Tigers

• Jeimer Candelario- 2-4, 2 RBI
• Eric Haase- 2-4, 2 R
• Tyler Alexander (ND)- 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

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