7/26/23

Mariners 8, Twins 7

(Minneapolis, MN) A lot is riding on the performance of the Seattle Mariners this week. If they are able to win a couple of road series against teams in the playoff hunt, you could see them add a couple pieces before Tuesday’s trade deadline. If not, you can kiss Teoscar Hernandez and Paul Sewald goodbye. That pressure was amplified on Wednesday when the M’s took on the Minnesota Twins in the rubber game of their three game series with the season series even at 3-3. Bryce Miller was on the mound with a lineup missing J.P. Crawford who was receiving a scheduled day off. After a fantastic start, the Twins clawed their way back into it but Seattle was able to fend off the Twins to take the series with an 8-7 win.

Consistent offense has been a rarity in 2023 for the Mariners but it was there on Wednesday. Julio Rodriguez moved back up to the leadoff spot with Crawford out and he had a very Crawford-like start. J-Rod doubled into right center for his 19th double of the season to begin the game against Joe Ryan. After Eugenio Suarez went down swinging, Teoscar Hernandez parachuted a flyball into center for a base hit. Rodriguez got a great read on the ball and knew it was dropping which allowed him to score to give Seattle the immediate 1-0 lead.

Bryce Miller retired the Twins in order to get the M’s right back to the plate in the top of the 2nd. With the bases empty and two outs, Dylan Moore stayed hot and continued to add value to the team. Moore smoked a fastball at the very top of the zone over the left field wall for a line drive home run. The solo blast was Moore’s third home run of the season and made it 2-0 Mariners.

In the top of the 3rd, the long ball would benefit the Mariners once again. Leading off the inning, Julio Rodriguez took advantage of a mistake made by Joe Ryan. Behind 0-2, Rodriguez got a splitter from Ryan that was well above the knees and Julio turned it into a souvenir as he launched his third home run in the past two games and his second into the upper deck in left field. It would be J-Rod’s 17th home run of his sophomore season and extended that lead a little bit more to 3-0.

Minnesota then got the long ball going for them as well in the bottom of the 3rd. Christian Vázquez had a very nice series for the Twins and he built upon that in this one. With the bases empty and one out, Vázquez pulled a fastball on the outside corner and sent it into the stands in left center for his third home run of the season to get the Twins on the board at 3-1. That wasn’t the only long ball of the inning for the Twins. Modern Mariner killer Edouard Julien did it again to Seattle with two outs. Julien went opposite field for his 10th home run of the season to tighten things up as Seattle’s lead was trimmed down to 3-2.

The offense just continued to add on in this game for the M’s in the early going. Tom Murphy continued his strong stretch at the plate with his 11th double to begin the inning. Cade Marlowe joined him on base with a walk and Dylan Moore singled to load the bases with nobody out. After falling behind 0-2, Kolten Wong battled again before hitting a line drive over Julien at second for a base hit. Everyone went station to station as Murphy scored to make it 4-2. Unfortunately that would be all the Mariners could muster in the bases loaded, no out situation as Julio and Geno struck out and Teoscar Hernandez flew out to end the potential big inning.

Not only did the Twins snuff out the big Mariner threat, they got back the one run they did give up on their first swing in the bottom of the 4th. Matt Wallner crushed his third home run of the season into right field. Seattle once again began to run out of breathing room as they held a 4-3 lead.

After four straight innings of scoring one run, Seattle finally got their crooked number in the top of the 5th off of the Minnesota bullpen and Jordan Balazovic. Ty France and Cade Marlowe both walked with a couple of outs mixed in to bring Dylan Moore to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs. With two hits already on the day, Dylan Moore made sure that this would be remembered as a Dylan Moore game. Moore fouled of two 0-2 pitches before a fastball up in the zone was sent into the bullpen for Moore’s fourth home run of 2023 and second of the day. This was a big one as the three-run blast opened things up at 7-3.

For the eighth straight inning, Seattle would score a run in the top of the 6th to keep things rolling. Double number 20 began the inning for Julio Rodriguez for his third extra base hit of the game. Eugenio Suarez got in on the offensive onslaught with a rocket to right on the first pitch of the AB. J-Rod flew in from second to give Geno the RBI and kept the lead growing at 8-3.

Things got very stressful after that for the M’s. A one out, opposite field home run for Matt Wallner’s second long ball of the day got the Twins one back as the deficit for them shrunk to 8-4. With two outs, things fell apart for Bryce Miller. Trevor Larnach double to right to put a runner in scoring position for the Twins. Kyle Farmer followed with a base hit back up the middle to drive in Larnach and make it 8-5. That would be the last batter faced for Bryce Miller as his day was done after 5 2/3 innings with eight hits allowed. We saw that Miller isn’t quite all the way back and still not ready to go deep in games which is completely understandable after missing some time. Matt Brash took over against Joey Gallo but Gallo would win the battle. His ninth double of the season short hopped the wall in right to score Farmer and make the score 8-6. Gallo then scored on a single by Christian Vázquez to make it a one-run game. Brash was able to protect the Mariner lead by striking out Carlos Correa to end the inning.

Only one Twin reached base in the 7th and 8th innings and Seattle did not get another baserunner in this ballgame as we went to the bottom of the 9th with Seattle still up 8-7. Paul Sewald got the day off which meant Andres Muñoz was on call to close this one out. Vázquez led off the inning with his third hit of the day with a single to center to put the tying run on base with Michael A. Taylor pinch running and bring the winning run to the plate. Carlos Correa chopped one right back to Muñoz but a bobble forced Muñoz to just get the sure out at first and allow the tying run to reach second with one out. Edouard Julien smoked a grounder that was gloved by Eugenio Suarez at third for the second out and kept Taylor at second with two down. Max Kepler would hit a routine grounder to Kolten Wong at second as a sigh of relief was let out in the PNW to end the game and preserve the Mariner win at 8-7.

After a big series win in Minnesota, Seattle (52-50) will get their first day off of the second half on Thursday before concluding their six-game road trip with a three-game series against another playoff contender in the Arizona Diamondbacks (55-48). The D-Backs have really struggled lately especially offensively as they are 6-14 in July but an even worse 3-9 since the All-Star break. That should be good news for Logan Gilbert (8-5, 3.88 ERA) who is coming of back-to-back short outings. While Gilbert only went five innings in each of his last two starts, he has the opportunity to end this month on a high note in what would be his best month of 2023. The rejuvenated Mariner offense will take on Tommy Henry (5-3, 4.01 ERA) for Arizona. Henry is not a strikeout pitcher or a guy that will go deep in games, but he has enjoyed a very strong month. The young D-Back starter has not allowed a home run this month after allowing 12 in his first 12 starts of the season. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 6:40pm.

Matt’s Takeaways

Alright. We have arrived at the make or break series for the 2023 Seattle Mariners. If they can take two of three or even sweep Arizona, there could be a reason to buy some small pieces. If they can’t, it will be time to start thinking about 2024. Trade away guys like Teoscar Hernandez and Paul Sewald for some younger talent that can help the team next season. The offense really clicked for the final 11 innings in Minnesota. If Julio can revert back to his Rookie of the Year level of play, that alone can completely change the offense. We also need to see Ty France turn the corner. He has shown glimpses of what he was last season but he has been fairly streaky this year. Now is the perfect time to play Arizona. Whatever happens this weekend, the takeaways that I will have on Monday will be the dependent on whether or not they take the series.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Dylan Moore- 3-4, 2 HRs, 4 RBI, 2 R
• Julio Rodriguez- 3-5, 2 2Bs, HR, RBI, 3 R
• Bryce Miller (W, 7-3)- 5.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO

Twins

• Matt Wallner- 2-4, 2 HRs, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Christian Vázquez- 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Joe Ryan (L, 9-7)- 3.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

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