4/12/23

Mariners 5, Cubs 2

(Chicago, IL) Less than 24 hours after a gut wrenching loss to the Chicago Cubs, the Seattle Mariners had to flush it and move on to the finale of their three-game series at the historic Wrigley Field. After two tough losses where the Mariners had opportunities to win, they needed to pull it together to end the road trip with a win and head back home with some positive momentum. Thanks to a brilliant outing by Logan Gilbert and more of the new and improved Jarred Kelenic, the M’s beat the Cubs ace in Marcus Stroman and salvaged a win by the final score of 5-2.

Wednesday was one of the rare times this season that the Mariners fell behind early. Back-to-back singles by Nico Hoerner and Nick Madrigal started the bottom of the 1st for the Cubs. Ian Happ then grounded out to Kolten Wong at second but they couldn’t turn the double play so runners were on the corners with one out. Cody Bellinger hit a deep fly ball to left that stayed in the ball park as Jarred Kelenic made the catch but Hoerner tagged and scored easily to make it 1-0 Cubs.

Marcus Stroman rolled thru the first two innings but for the first time in 2023, he allowed a run in the top of the 3rd. J.P. Crawford led off the inning with his fifth double of the season to right center. Crawford moved to third on a fly ball by Julio Rodriguez and Ty France drew a walk to put runners on the corners for the Mariners with one out. Eugenio Suarez continued to drive in runs with a hard grounder through the right side of the infield for an RBI single to tie the game 1-1. Cal Raleigh walked to load the bases and Teoscar Hernandez hit a rocket on the first pitch up the middle for a base hit. The M’s went station to station and took a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, that would be it for the M’s in the inning and they would leave the bases loaded.

Logan Gilbert was outstanding after a tough 1st inning. Gilbert retired twelve consecutive batters until giving up a two out single by Miles Mastrobuoni. Gilbert would strand the runner after a flyout and continued to roll through 6 2/3 innings with only one run allowed on four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. After a concerning start in Cleveland that saw the young righty have a dip in velocity, he was back to his normal self with a strong outing that was more reminiscent of his first start against Cleveland which allows Mariner fans to breath a sigh of relief.

An RBI single by Ty France in the 7th made it 3-1 Mariners but the top of the 8th would be the big inning and it would only be two swings that did the damage. Teoscar Hernandez drove a fastball that was above the zone 419 feet into the left field bleachers for his third home run of the season. He would be one upped one batter later. Jarred Kelenic saved his best home run for last in the series. Kelenic blasted a 2-0 fastball a whopping 482 feet into center field. His third home run of the season was the longest home run by any Mariner in the Statcast Era (2015-Present) and the longest home run in Wrigley Field in the same timeframe. The back-to-back mammoth home runs made it 5-1 Mariners.

It was Paul Sewald taking over for the bottom of the 9th to try to preserve the win. Cody Bellinger wasn’t going to make it easy. Bellinger launched his second home run of the season to right field to make it 5-2 and gave Mariner fans flashbacks to Tuesday night’s meltdown. This game would have a happy ending however. Trey Mancini and Eric Hosmer both grounded out to end the game as the Mariners avoided the sweep with the 5-2 win.

Seattle (5-8) ends the road trip with a 3-3 record and now head home for nine games of interleague play starting on Friday night. The Mariners begin a three-game set with the Colorado Rockies (5-8) and will send Marco Gonzales (1-0, 4.22 ERA) to the mound in the opener. Colorado will use Austin Gomber (0-2, 6.75 ERA) in game one which is scheduled for a 7:10pm start on Friday night.

Matt’s Takeaways

Everyone needs to calm down a little bit. I understand the frustration 100%. The Mariners had a chance to win every single game on this road trip. However going 3-3 against two pesky teams on the road is not a terrible result. Also, the M’s are just 2.5 games out of first place in the AL West. No team in the division is off to an incredible start like the Tampa Bay Rays. Everyone needs to work into the season.

Jarred Kelenic is the reason I am more optimistic about the Mariners now than I was before this road trip. This is the guy we heard about in the trade that send Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano to Queens. Kelenic is having fun playing baseball and is more confident now than he has been at any point in his first two seasons with the M’s. You can tell just by watching that everything has changed. He is a big league hitter now and we are seeing this breakout is not just a flash in the pan. He is using the entire field, isn’t chasing out of the zone, and is squaring up everything. Buckle up Mariner fans. Jarred Kelenic has arrived.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Teoscar Hernandez- 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Jarred Kelenic- 2-4, HR, RBI, R
• Logan Gilbert (W, 1-1)- 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

Cubs

• Cody Bellinger- 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Nico Hoerner- 1-4, R
• Marcus Stroman (L, 2-1)- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

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