9/4/22

Mariners 6, Guardians 3

(Cleveland, OH) It is unusual for the Mariners to have to endure rain delays. When they play in Seattle, they have the retractable roof so the rain has no effect on if the game is played or not. On Sunday in Cleveland, they didn’t have that luxury. It rained before the game and well into the game. In the 4th both teams were sent to their clubhouses for a rain delay. When the game resumed four and a half hours later, the teams would battle into extra innings. When the rain and dust settled, it would be the M’s heading home with a 6-0 road trip and a 6-3 win over the Guardians.

Before the rain delay, the Mariners continued a great streak of scoring in the 1st inning. For the fifth consecutive game, the Mariners got on the board in the top of the 1st and this time they would be aided by a Cleveland error. Julio Rodriguez led off the game with an infield single to shortstop Amed Rosario. The throw would go into the Mariner dugout to give J-Rod second base. After a Jesse Winker strikeout, Ty France lined one down the left field line for extra bases. Rodriguez scored easily and the France RBI double gave the M’s another early 1-0 lead.

This time the Guardians would answer immediately. In the bottom of the 1st, AL Rookie of the Month of August George Kirby found himself in trouble after two quick outs. Jose Ramirez would reach on a single and Josh Naylor would make Kirby pay. A double to center allowed Ramirez to score all the way from first to even the game at 1-1.

In the 3rd it would be the Mariner muscle putting them back out in front. Julio Rodriguez would destroy a 1-0 fastball into left field for the rookie’s 23rd home run of the season. The rookie combination of Rodriguez and Kirby had the Mariners in front 2-1.

In the top of the 4th, rain started playing a major factor. Guardian starter Cal Quantrill lost his command and gave up back-to-back singles to Mitch Haniger and Eugenio Suarez. After a fouled off bunt by Adam Frazier, the umpire crew sent both teams off the field and called for the tarp. Four and a half hours later, Frazier would be hit by the second pitch after the restart to load the bases. J.P. Crawford would hit into a 6-3 double play to minimize the threat, but it would score Haniger to make it 3-1 Seattle.

In the bottom of the 7th, the Mariners bullpen finally had a hiccup. Diego Castillo would walk Andres Gimenez to lead off the inning. After a stolen base, Tyler Freeman grounded out to Crawford at short to move Gimenez to third with one out. Austin Hedges would then reach on an infield single to score Gimenez and make it 3-2. Castillo and Erik Swanson would team up to get out of trouble and preserve a now one run lead.

In the bottom of the 8th the lead would disappear. Amed Rosario led off with a single and then he would steal second and the throw from catcher Curt Casali went off the glove of Suarez and into the outfield. Rosario reached third with just one out. Josh Naylor hit a chopper to Swanson for the second out and kept Rosario at third with now two outs. Paul Sewald came in to try to tightrope out of danger. He would be unsuccessful. Oscar Gonzalez lined one to left to score Rosario and tie the game at 3-3.

Emmanuel Clase pitched an easy top of the 9th for Cleveland, so the Guardians had a chance to win it in the bottom of the 9th. Matt Festa would be tasked with getting the game to extra innings. Tyler Freeman singled to right to lead off the inning and put the winning run on. A couple of fly outs to Adam Frazier in right field followed for an easy two outs. Steven Kwan would once again cause trouble for Seattle with a base hit to right to put the winning run at third with two outs. He would not reach home. Amed Rosario hit a routine fly ball to Frazier in right to end the inning and send the already long game to extra innings.

Abraham Toro started on second for the Mariners in the top of the 10th. Julio Rodriguez would record his third hit of the day with a knock to center to move Toro to third with nobody out. J-Rod then stole second for his 24th stolen base of the year. Jesse Winker would hit a pop up to third baseman Tyler Freeman though for the first out. Ty France wouldn’t fair much better as he hit a shallow fly ball to left field for the second out and Toro wasn’t able to score. Mitch Haniger had a long battle that resulted in a walk to load the bases with two outs. Eugenio Suarez would have the opportunity to play hero. A nice at bat by Geno ran the count full, but the Mariner third baseman hit a fly ball to Myles Straw in center to end the inning and leave the bases juiced for the M’s.

With Amed Rosario starting the bottom of the 10th on second, it wasn’t going to take much for the Guardians to get the win. Matthew Boyd had the unenviable task of keeping that run from scoring. He would intentionally walk Jose Ramirez to start the inning. Josh Naylor would hit a chopper to Abraham Toro at second and Toro would try to tag Ramirez, but the veteran back peddled towards first. Toro had to throw the ball to France at first to get Naylor, but France then threw to J.P. Crawford who was covering second to tag out Ramirez for the double play. Rosario moved to third but with two outs, the Mariners were close to getting out of the inning. Back-to-back walks to Oscar Gonzalez and Andres Gimenez would build the drama and load the bases with two outs.  Boyd would get Tyler Freeman to hit a fly ball to Adam Frazier in left and he was retired to send the game to the 11th.

This time the Mariners had Eugenio Suarez on second to start the inning. Adam Frazier hit a hard line drive right at right fielder Oscar Gonzalez for the first out. Then, the captain of the Mariners J.P. Crawford broke the stalemate with a ground ball up the middle. Suarez would score from second and Crawford would get to second on the throw as the Mariners took the lead, 4-3. Cal Raleigh would expand that lead. The Mariner catcher would hit his third home run of the series on a two-run shot to right for his 22nd home run of the season. It was now a much more comfortable lead at 6-3.

In the bottom of the 11th, the Mariners would use the last pitcher that they had in the bullpen in Chris Flexen. With Tyler Freeman starting on second, Flexen would cruise through the inning without missing the strike zone. Luke Maile hit the first pitch right back at Flexen and was thrown out at first. Myles Straw would strike out looking on only three pitches to put all the pressure on Steven Kwan. He would not hurt the Mariners this time as Kwan hit a ground ball to J.P. Crawford at short for the final out of a game that lasted over eight hours. It was worth it for Seattle as they won their seventh straight ball game and go their second straight sweep with a 6-3 win.

The Mariners (76-58) also got the good news that the Tampa Bay Rays lost their game with the New York Yankees. That gives Seattle the top Wild Card spot as they sit a game ahead of the Rays and two games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Baltimore Orioles remain out of the playoffs as they sit 2.5 games behind Toronto and 4.5 behind the M’s. The Cleveland Guardians saw their division lead disappear as they now sit tied atop the AL Central with the Minnesota Twins and just two games ahead of the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland will start a three-game series at Kansas City starting Monday. The Mariners will look to help the Guardians as they return home to Seattle for a three-game series with the White Sox. Marco Gonzales (10-12, 3.99 ERA) will start for the Mariners in game one on Monday while Lance Lynn (4-5, 4.70 ERA) pitches for Chicago. First pitch is scheduled for Monday at 3:40p.

Matt’s Takeaway

This one was a weird one as we didn’t know for hours if they would resume the game or suspend it. It got weirder when the Mariners bullpen couldn’t protect the lead but I am not worried about that. I did not like how the bullpen was managed out of the rain delay. I believe Chris Flexen should have come in right when the game resumed but instead the Mariners used every bullpen arm they had. That puts a lot of pressure on Marco Gonzales to go seven innings tomorrow to try to get them back on track. I trust Scott Servais though, so we will see if it turns out to hurt the Mariners in this series with Chicago.

Notable Performences

Mariners

• Julio Rodriguez- 4-6, HR, RBI, 2 R, SB
• Cal Raleigh- 1-2, HR, 2 RBI, R
• George Kirby (ND)- 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO

Guardians

• Josh Naylor- 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Oscar Gonzalez- 1-3, RBI, BB
• Cal Quantrill (ND)- 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

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