5/28/23

(Seattle, WA) It didn’t get off to a very good start and at time it wasn’t very pretty, but the Seattle Mariners got the job done by defending T-Mobile Park from a Pirate attack as Seattle took two of three from Pittsburgh to secure a winning homestand with still one series to go. The series also got the M’s some momentum that they have struggled to build this season.

Pirates 11, Mariners 7 (Game 1)

The opener of the three-game interleague series turned into a home run derby and it didn’t go the Mariners way. George Kirby had his worst outing of 2023 as Pittsburgh slugged a total of seven home runs in the game. Seattle got a couple of their own by Julio Rodriguez and J.P. Crawford, but the offensive onslaught of Pittsburgh was just too much. Seven home runs tied a franchise record for Pittsburgh as they totaled 15 hits and 40 total bases against a stellar Seattle pitching staff. Kirby and Pirate starter Mitch Keller were both clearly off but Pittsburgh’s offense would just be unstoppable as they took game one 11-7.

Notable Performances

Pirates

• Bryan Reynolds- 3-4, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R, BB, SB
• Jack Suwinski- 3-5, 2 HRs, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Mitch Keller (W, 6-1)- 6 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO

Mariners

• Julio Rodriguez- 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
• J.P. Crawford- 2-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• George Kirby (L, 5-4)- 4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Mariners 5, Pirates 0 (Game 2)

That same Pirate lineup that dominated in the opener was shutdown completely by Luis Castillo in game two. After giving up a double on his first pitch of the game, La Piedra was in complete control for six dominant innings of work. Building off of a dominant outing against Oakland, Castillo outdid that performance as he tied his Mariner high in single game strikeouts with 10 while only walking two batters. A lot of foul balls kept him from getting deeper in the game, but after the 1st inning, Castillo never gave Pittsburgh an opportunity to score. With such a rough month of May, Castillo ended the month with two dominant outings that showed he is still one of the best pitchers in the American League

Seattle’s offense provided more than enough run support as well for their ace. J.P. Crawford and Ty France had back-to-back doubles to start the bottom of the 1st to make it 1-0 and it was all icing on the cake after. The Mariners knocked around six doubles in the game with Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez, and Teoscar Hernandez getting in on the fun as well. They chased Vince Velasquez after just two innings of work after scoring four runs in those two innings. Seattle added another run in the 7th and the bullpen only allowed one hit in their three innings of work to even the series thanks to a 5-0 win.

Notable Performances

Pirates

• Tucupita Marcano- 1-4, 2B
• Jack Suwinski- 1-4
• Vince Velasquez (L, 4-4)- 2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

Mariners

• Luis Castillo (W, 4-2)- 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO
• Eugenio Suarez- 1-3, 2 RBI, R
• Ty France- 2-3, 2 2Bs, RBI, R, BB

Mariners 6, Pirates 3 (10) (Game 3)

All the drama in the series was saved for the final game, The rubber game of the three-game set saw the Mariners in control for most of the game. A couple of high home runs hit by Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh paired nicely with a strong outing from Marco Gonzales. A Jarred Kelenic RBI double had Seattle up 3-1 after seven innings. In the 8th, Pittsburgh got an RBI triple by Bryan Reynolds and he would score on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3. It would go to extras.

Tayler Sauced was in trouble as a single by Bryan Reynolds put runners on the corners with nobody out in the top of the 10th. Saucedo would come up clutch with strikeouts of Connor Joe and Jack Suwinski to get himself one pitch away from escaping trouble. With Reynolds stealing second, Seattle would intentionally walk Rodolfo Castro to load the bases and take their chances against Ke’Bryan Hayes. It would be the right call as Saucedo got Hayes swinging on a 3-2 changeup dropping out of the zone to strand the bases loaded and give the M’s a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the 10th.

Robert Stephenson came in for Pittsburgh with Crawford on second to start the inning. Ty France would ground out to second to move the winning run to third with just one out. Julio continued to struggle in big moments in 2023 has he struck out swinging for a massive second out. The Pirates decided to intentionally walk Jarred Kelenic and take their chances with Eugenio Suarez. That would NOT be the right call. Suarez crushed a 2-1 hanging slider for his sixth home run of the season to give the Mariners the 6-3 walkoff win. Thanks to the first Mariner walkoff home run of the season, Seattle secured a winning homestand and a series win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Notable Performances

Pirates

• Bryan Reynolds- 2-5, 3B, RBI, R, SB
• Ji Hwan Bae- 2-4, 2B, R, Highlight catch to send game to extras
• Luis L. Ortiz (ND)- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO

Mariners

• Eugenio Suarez- 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R, BB, Walk-Off
• Julio Rodriguez- 2-5, HR, RBI, R
• Marco Gonzales (ND)- 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

With the series win, Seattle (28-25) will now turn their attention to one of the top teams in the American League. Seattle opens up a three-game series with the New York Yankees (32-23) on Monday at 6:40pm to close out the 10-game homestand. Bryce Miller (3-1, 1.15 ERA) will look to silence the doubters against a very powerful lineup. Domingo German (2-3, 3.75 ERA) will look to continue to stabilize an injury depleted rotation for the Yankees in game one.

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