9/1/22

Mariners 7, Tigers 0

(Detroit, MI) While Mariner fans did have to sweat out the game two win over Detroit, the finale turned out to be more like game one as Seattle got out to an early lead and rolled from there. Logan Gilbert got his first win since July 5th as the M’s shutout the Tigers 7-0.

The Mariners jumped out to a lead in the first inning for the second straight night. After Julio Rodriguez walked to leadoff the game, Ty France hit a grounder to third and Jeimer Candelario would boot it for an error and put runners on first and second with nobody out. After a Mitch Haniger strikeout, it would once again be Eugenio Suarez dealing some first inning damage with a base hit to left to score Rodriguez and make it 1-0 Mariners.

In the top of the 3rd, it would be time for the Mariners to add on. Julio Rodriguez would lead off the inning with a moon shot to deep left field for his 22nd home run of the season to make it 2-0. The ball traveled 407 feet and was J-Rod’s 12th home run 400+ feet this season. The next batter would be Ty France and he wouldn’t let Julio have all the fun. France would turn a 1-1 changeup into a souvenir for the left field stands for back-to-back home runs. The blast would be #17 on the season for France and extended the Seattle lead to 3-0.

The top of the 4th would be the biggest inning for the Mariners. It was a different lineup for the Mariners with a unique bottom of the order, but they would come through in the 4th. J.P. Crawford led off with a walk and Sam Haggerty would it a blooper to center and it would drop for a base hit. Crawford would go from first to third and the throw would get passed the cutoff man to allow Haggerty to get to second. Curt Casali would then tag on a couple of runs with a shot to the gap in right center. Crawford and Haggerty scored easily on the Casali double to make it 5-0. After a couple of outs, Ty France would get another RBI with a base hit into left to score Casali easily and the Mariners had a comfortable 6-0 lead.

Logan Gilbert was completely dominant the entire way. He only allowed one runner to reach second base in his six dominant innings. It was the same Logan Gilbert that we saw back in April and was nearly untouchable. Gilbert finished his six-shutout innings only allowing two hits and one walk while tying a career high nine strikeouts. He would retire the last 11 batters that he faced.

In the top of the 9th, Seattle would give the Tigers scoreboard operator some more work. With substitutions coming in, it would be Jake Lamb reaching on a one out bloop single to right center. Carlos Santana then lined out but Mitch Haniger kept the inning going with a shift beating slow ground ball to the right side of the infield. Eugenio Suarez then singled to left to load the bases. Abraham Toro had a long battle but drew a bases loaded walk to make it 7-0.

Matt Brash started things off for the Mariners bullpen with a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th. It would then be Washington native and Eastside Catholic alum Matthew Boyd making his debut for his home team against his former team in Detroit. It would be an easy 1-2-3 inning for him in the 8th as well. Penn Murfee would have to work a little bit harder in the 9th. A leadoff single by Riley Greene started the inning but flyouts by Victor Reyes and Javy Baez would both be handled by Taylor Trammell in center. Harold Castro kept the game going with a base hit to left. The game wasn’t extended for long as Eric Haase hit a groundball to Toro at second to end the game and complete the sweep for the Mariners 7-0.

Seattle (73-58) took advantage of a struggling Tigers team and off days for both Tampa Bay and Toronto. The Mariners are now tied with Tampa Bay for the top spot in the American League Wild Card standings and are two games ahead of Toronto. The Baltimore Orioles are still the first team outside of the playoffs and the M’s are 3.5 ahead of Baltimore. The Mariners will now travel to take on the AL Central leading Cleveland Guardians for a three-game series. In the opener on Friday at 4p, the Mariners will start Luis Castillo (5-5, 2.85 ERA) who struck out 10 Guardians last Saturday. He will take on Zach Plesac (3-11, 4.39 ERA) who got the win in that game last week for Cleveland.

Matt’s Takeaway

This Logan Gilbert is the one that looked like a Cy Young contender back in April and May. He was pitching with confidence which might be because he had a big lead but that is how he needs to pitch from here on out. He has such good stuff and a vicious knuckle curve. Ty France is officially back because he did nothing but hit in the three games in Detroit. Also, Sam Haggerty needs to relax a little bit on defense. He went into the net in the game on Thursday and it would not be an easy landing for Haggerty. Especially on a ball that is clearly foul, there isn’t need to risk injury. It was cool, but we need a healthy Haggerty down the stretch. But wow…Sam Haggerty is the definition of cool.

Notable Performences

Mariners

• Ty France- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Julio Rodriguez- 1-3, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB
• Logan Gilbert (W, 11-5)- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

Tigers

• Riley Greene- 2-4
• Eduardo Rodriguez (L, 3-4)- 4 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO

Updates

• With the start of September, MLB rosters expand by two so teams are able to add a position player and a pitcher. The Mariners recalled OF Taylor Trammell and LHP Matthew Boyd to fill those extra spots on the big league roster.

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