4/26/23

Phillies 6, Mariners 5

(Philadelphia, PA) A rainy Wednesday in Philadelphia delayed game two of the three-game series between the Seattle Mariners and Philadelphia Phillies but the game would be played. What started as a rainy and dark day ended the same way for the Mariners despite all the happiness in between. Once again, the Mariners had one big inning where they scored all of their runs but a dangerous Phillies lineup kept up with the M’s and jumped on the Mariners bullpen late to force a rubber game in the series on Wednesday as Philadelphia evened the series with a 6-5 win.

Unlike game one, Philadelphia would strike first and struck early against Logan Gilbert. After a leadoff walk to Bryson Stott in the bottom of the 1st, Gilbert retired the next two batters and looked like he would pitch around the leadoff base runner. Unfortunately, Nick Castellanos had other plans. The Phillies DH jumped on a fastball in the middle of the plate and sent it out to right center field for a two-run shot. Castellanos’ third home run of the season gave Philly the early 2-0 lead.

Former Mariner, Taijuan Walker looked really strong early as he sat down the first five batters he faced. With two outs in the top of the 2nd, things started to unravel for the right-hander. A walk to Cal Raleigh got the Mariner rally started and AJ Pollock kept the inning alive with an infield single off a broken bat. Kolten Wong never took the bat off of his shoulder drawing a four pitch walk to load the bases for J.P. Crawford. The Mariner shortstop wasted no time getting to his former team. A first pitch fastball in the middle of the plate was crushed 420 feet by Crawford for his second career grand slam and his first home run of 2023. In the blink of an eye the Mariners had taken a 4-2 lead.

That lead grew one batter later. Julio Rodriguez kept the two-out rally alive as he launched his fifth home run of the season. What looked like a quick 1-2-3 inning quickly turned into a big inning for the Mariners as they took a 5-2 lead.

That would be it for the Mariners offense for the rest of the game and the Phillies had plenty of time to cut into the deficit. In the bottom of the 3rd, Edmundo Sosa and Bryson Stott started the inning with back-to-back singles. A Trea Turner lineout to right moved Sosa to third to put runners on the corners with one out. Kyle Schwarber did his job as he flicked a line drive the other way into left field for a base hit. Sosa scored to cut it to a 5-3 game. Fortunately, Gilbert induced a couple of groundouts to end the inning with the lead still intact.

Philadelphia made the game even closer in the bottom of the 6th. Bryson Stott singled again and move to second on a wild pitch to begin the inning. He would move to third as Turner grounded out but a strikeout of Schwarber put Gilbert in a good spot to leave that runner stranded. Again, Nick Castellanos came up with a big two-out RBI. This time it would just be a single to center but Stott scored to make it just a one-run game at 5-4.

In the bottom of the 8th, everything unraveled for the Seattle bullpen. Back-to-back singles to start the inning by Castellanos and Brandon Marsh put runners on the corners with nobody out. Justin Topa was in a very bad spot and it would only get worse. J.T. Realmuto snuck a ground ball just past Kolten Wong at second and into center field. Castellanos walked home and the game was tied at 5-5. Alec Bohm untied it as the next batter as he smacked a base hit into left field. With plus speed, Marsh scored from second and the Phillies had come all the way back to take a 6-5 lead. Penn Murfee would come in and cleaned up the mess to keep it just a one run game headed to the 9th.

Jose Alvarado came on to try to shutdown the M’s and break Mariner hearts and looked like he would with ease. That was until a two-out double by J.P. Crawford put the tying run in scoring position with Julio Rodriguez coming to the plate. The rough month of April continued for Julio Rodriguez late in ball games as he ripped through a cutter for strike three to end the game and give the Phillies a 6-5 win.

Due to the blown lead, Seattle (11-13) will now have to win on Thursday to try to take the series from Philadelphia (12-13) as both teams need this series to jumpstart their season. George Kirby (2-1, 3.57 ERA) will try to make it four straight quality starts for the sophomore as he takes on Matt Strahm (1-2, 3.00 ERA) who is coming off an 11 strikeout performance in Colorado but has not seen a single run of support in his last two starts.

Matt’s Takeaways

It was a terrible day for the Mariners. Not only did they blow a late lead, but they got the bad news that Robbie Ray is indeed done for the season as he will have surgery to repair his flexor tendon in his elbow. This is a big loss for the Mariners despite what you think of Robbie Ray. The fact is he is a veteran pitcher who had a 3.71 ERA last season which would be perfect to complete this rotation. The M’s are better with Robbie Ray in the rotation. Every starting pitcher is giving this team a chance to win outside of Chris Flexen. What looked to be a strength for the Mariners now turns into their biggest need to try to compete for an AL West crown. The Mariners need another starter and whether it be a trade, free agent, or a call-up, they need that new starter ASAP.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• J.P. Crawford- 3-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, R
• Julio Rodriguez- 1-5, HR, RBI, R
• Logan Gilbert (ND)- 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO

Phillies

• Nick Castellanos- 3-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• J.T. Realmuto- 2-4, RBI
• Taijuan Walker (ND)- 4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

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