7/1/23

Mariners 8, Rays 3

(Seattle, WA) Frustration continued to brew in the Pacific Northwest as the Seattle Mariners hosted the Tampa Bay Rays in the second of three games on Saturday. After giving up 15 runs the night before, Seattle looked for any kind of positive momentum going into the weekend. George Kirby gave the M’s just what they needed while the bats got cooking. In one of the most complete games Seattle has played in the last month, the Mariners gave fans a reason to cheer as Seattle evened the series with a big 8-3 victory.

Once again Seattle would get off to a good start and strike first in the bottom of the 2nd. With the bases empty and two outs, Jarred Kelenic shot a ball down the left field line that just stayed fair. Kelenic reached on his 18th double of the season to extend the inning. A wild pitch moved him to third and Mike Ford would come up clutch with a two out RBI single to center to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.

Starring in the complete win for the M’s was shortstop J.P. Crawford. In the bottom of the 3rd, Crawford got his second hit of the game and it was a big one. J.P. smashed his seventh home run of the season with a rocket over the right field wall to extend the Mariner lead to 2-0.

George Kirby was absolutely brilliant on Saturday evening. Despite a rare two walks allowed, everything else was solid for the young right hander. He did not allow a hit until the top of the 6th when All-Star first baseman Yandy Diaz reached with his 17th double of the season. He would move to third with two outs after a Wander Franco groundout, but Kirby couldn’t escape the inning. Luke Raley launched his 14th home run of the season on a 0-1 splitter right down the middle. In the blink of an eye, Tampa Bay had tied the game 2-2.

It would not remain tied for long. In the bottom half of the 6th, Teoscar Hernandez put himself in scoring position with his 12th double of the year. After Cal Raleigh struck out for the second out, it would lead to more two out noise for Seattle. Eugenio Suarez was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second for Jarred Kelenic. The young left fielder came up big as he went the other way with a groundball into left field for a base hit. Hernandez came around to score to give Seattle and Kirby back the lead at 3-2.

Kirby finished his outing with a 1-2-3 top of the 7th and set the table for a big inning from the bats after the 7th inning stretch. Crawford ledoff with a walk followed by singles for Julio Rodriguez and Ty France to load the bases with nobody out. While many Mariner fans were having flashbacks to earlier in the week, Teoscar Hernandez quelled those worries. Teo smashed a flyball to the gap in deep right center that dropped in for a base hit. The ball hopped over the wall for a ground rule double for Teo’s 13th double, scoring two runs to make it 5-2. Eugenio Suarez then hit the deepest fly ball possible at T-Mobile Park out to the wall in center field and instead of a three-run homer, Geno settled for a sacrifice fly to make it 6-2 Seattle.

Tampa Bay quickly put runners on the corners in the top of the 8th after singles by Christian Bethancourt and Yandy Diaz. That brought in Paul Sewald for a five out save opportunity but it would not come easily. Wander Franco ripped a shot up the middle for a base hit, scoring Bethancourt and making it 6-3 with the tying run coming to the plate. Luke Raley had already homered once in the game, but he would not win this battle. Sewald got Raley to hit a groundball to J.P. Crawford who touched second and then threw Raley out at first for a 6-3 double play to preserve the 6-3 Mariner lead.

Two big runs came into score in the bottom of the 8th for the Mariners. Dylan Moore pinch ran for Mike Ford who started the inning with a walk. Moore would attempt to steal second which left a big hole on the right side of the infield and Jose Caballero smacked a chopper right through that hole for a base hit. With runners on the corners, J.P. Crawford continued his big day with a base hit to right field to drive in Moore and make it 7-3 with runners on the corners and still nobody out. Julio Rodriguez then singled to left to score Caballero and add on some more insurance making it 8-3.

The top of the 9th went much better for the Mariner closer as Sewald ran right through the Rays lineup. Sewald would strikeout Randy Arozarena, Harold Ramirez, and Josh Lowe on 11 pitches for an easy, stress-free final frame to end the three game losing streak for Seattle as the Mariners evened the series with the 8-3 win.

Both teams will try to begin the month of July with a series win when they take the field for the rubber game of the three-game series on Sunday at 1:10pm. Seattle (39-42) will have their ace Luis Castillo (5-6, 2.86 ERA) on the mound after he got back on track in the win over Washington on Monday. Tampa Bay (57-29) will not be so fortunate as Taj Bradley (5-4, 4.58 ERA) goes for the Rays in the finale. The 22-year-old has been up and down this season for Tampa Bay and is coming off a very bad outing in Arizona where he gave up seven runs in four innings and four home runs.

Notable Performances

Rays

• Luke Raley- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Yandy Diaz- 2-4, 2B, R
• Tyler Glasnow (L, 2-2)- 5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 11 SO

Mariners

• J.P. Crawford- 3-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
• Teoscar Hernandez- 2-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R
• George Kirby (W, 7-7)- 7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

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