4/21/24

(Denver, CO) Following a big sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, the Seattle Mariners hit the road for six games starting with a three-game series in Denver, taking on the Colorado Rockies. A must win series against a bottom-tier team before a very difficult nine-game stretch was delayed when Friday night’s game was postponed due to snow and a doubleheader was scheduled for Sunday. With a day off before the postponement and a day off after, everything was set up for the Mariners to have another big series and build momentum before a tough stretch of games.

Mariners 7, Rockies 0 (Game 1, 4/20)

The second coldest game in franchise history took place on Saturday in the opener of the three-game series as the M’s and Rockies battled in 33 degree and snowy weather. Multiple players would heat things up for the Mariners but none more so than Luis Castillo. After struggling through his first four starts of the season, La Piedra dominated from start to finish on Saturday. He struck out two of the first three batters he faced and didn’t allow a hit until the bottom of the 4th. Nobody reached second for Colorado in Castillo’s seven innings. The Mariner ace allowed just two hits through seven scoreless innings, walking only one and striking out nine. After a better outing against Chicago, Castillo looked like his Cy Young caliber self and kept the rotation rolling with their eighth consecutive quality start.

Offensively, Seattle would be pretty hot as well and it started early. Cal Raleigh led off the top of the 2nd and smoked a line drive the other way into left field. It would cut through the cold, thin air and just cleared the fence in left for a solo shot. Raleigh’s fourth home run of the season put Seattle out in front 1-0. In the top of the 3rd, Cal would strike again. A single and a stolen base for Julio Rodriguez had a runner on second with two outs. The switch-hitting catcher came up to the plate and hit a screaming line drive to right that got down for a base hit. That scored Julio, making it 2-0 Seattle.

After Seattle added on another run in the 4th on an RBI single by Julio Rodriguez, they would break it open in the top of the 5th. Cal Raleigh drew a walk to lead off the inning and Colorado went to their bullpen as Dakota Hudson’s day came to an end. Ty France welcomed Victor Vodnik to the game with a single to center and Mitch Garver loaded the bases with nobody out with another single. Jonatan Clase would create chaos with a simple base hit to right. Sean Bouchard tried to come up throwing in right, but he would miss the ball and it rolled back to the warning track. That allowed everybody to score and Clase tried to notch himself a Little League home run. Clase would get thrown out at the plate for the first out, but three runs did score to make it 6-0. Josh Rojas followed with a walk and moved up to second on a J.P. Crawford ground out. Julio capped off the five-run inning with a base hit to center to make it 7-0 M’s.

Tyson Miller rolled through the bottom of the 8th with just 13 pitches in a 1-2-3 inning. Brett de Gaus entered to finish off the game in the bottom of the 9th. de Gaus would not have as easy of a time and allowed Colorado to get a runner into scoring position after a one-out double by Ezequiel Tovar. He would move up to third on a Ryan McMahon groundout, but the M’s were an out away from completing the shutout. After hitting Elías Díaz, de Gaus would record the final out when Elehuris Montero flew out to Luke Raley in right and the Mariners celebrated with a victory dance in the snow as they dominated the series opener, 7-0.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Luis Castillo (W, 1-4)- 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO
• Cal Raleigh- 4-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
• Julio Rodriguez- 4-5, 2 RBI, R, 2 SB

Rockies

• Ezequiel Tovar- 1-4, 2B
• Dakota Hudson (L, 0-4)- 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 1 SO

Rockies 2, Mariners 1 (10) (Game 2, 4/21)

Beginning the day-night doubleheader, George Kirby took the mound at noon on Sunday to take on Cal Quantrill in game two of the three-game series. There would be plenty of scoring opportunities for both teams throughout this one but neither side was able to capitalize on any of the scoring chances.

Seattle put two runners on base in three of the first four innings, but they could not cash in on any of the early opportunities. Two incredible defensive plays by Dylan Moore at second erased the Rockies first scoring opportunity as well. George Kirby did not allow too many opportunities early but a one-out triple in the bottom of the 4th for Brenton Doyle gave Colorado a great opportunity to strike. Kirby got a big strikeout by getting Brendan Rodgers looking thanks to a pitcher friendly strike zone. Jake Cave would groundout to J.P. Crawford to end the inning and kill the first threat for the Rockies.

After Kirby got a strikeout to end the bottom of the 5th with a runner on third, Seattle would leave Ty France stranded at third when Jonatan Clase grounded out to end the top of the 6th. Trent Thornton came on to pitch the bottom of the 6th and got in trouble right away. After getting Nolan Jones to pop out to start the inning, Thornton hit Brenton Doyle, walked Brendan Rodgers, and gave up a single to Jake Cave to load the bases with one out. Thornton would then settle in a struck out Michael Toglia for a huge second out. The jam was erased fully when Jacob Stallings grounded out to third and the game remained scoreless heading into the 7th.

Sloppy baserunning cost the Mariners in the top of the 7th. J.P. Crawford reached with a walk and Julio Rodriguez followed with a chopper to short. Ezequiel Tovar tried to make a play but the throw was well late as Julio easily beat it out for an infield single. On the throw to first, Crawford tried to advance to third but was thrown out on a very close play to take a lot of pressure off of Colorado. Julio would then try to steal second, but he left early and pitcher Jake Bird turned and threw out J-Rod at second for another out on the base paths. What looked like it could have been a big inning turned into a 1-2-3 inning and the game was still tied at 0-0.

Colorado had a chance to walk-off the game in the bottom of the 9th with the game still scoreless. A double play erased the leadoff baserunner and the game looked destined for extras. Jacob Stallings had other plans as he drove a fly ball to deep left field. Dylan Moore made a leaping effort, but a fan reached over the wall in left and interfered with Moore. That created confusion as the ball was in play and Stallings stopped at second base. The umpires then got together to review the call and determined that the fan did interfere with D-Mo and instead of hitting a walk-off home run, they ruled Stallings out to end the inning and send the game to the 10th.

Seattle pushed across their automatic runner when J.P. Crawford singled to right to score Jorge Polanco and give Seattle the first run of the game, making it 1-0. That was all the Mariners got and Andrés Muñoz entered to try to close out the extra innings win. With Jacob Stallings starting the inning at second, Charlie Blackmon placed a perfect ground ball up the middle and reached on an infield single while Stallings moved up to third. Ezequiel Tovar tied the game as he fought off an inside fastball and dropped it into right field, making it 1-1 and put the winning run on third with still nobody out. Ryan McMahon delivered the final blow with a chopper to short that wasn’t handled cleanly by Crawford, but it didn’t look like it would have mattered any way. The Rockies celebrated the walk-off win 2-1 and created a rubber game for the night cap of the doubleheader.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• George Kirby (ND)- 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO
• J.P. Crawford- 1-3, RBI, 2 BB
• Dylan Moore- 1-2, 2 BB, 2 Web Gems

Rockies

• Ezequiel Tovar- 3-5, RBI
• Brenton Doyle- 2-3, 3B, HBP
• Cal Quantrill (ND)- 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO

Mariners 10, Rockies 2 (Game 1, 4/20)

After getting a couple hours to rest up and get ready for the night cap, the Mariners did not get off to a very good start in the rubber game of the series. After going down in order in the top of the 1st, Emerson Hancock found himself in trouble early. An error by Jorge Polanco put Ezequiel Tovar on and Ryan McMahon followed with a walk. Elías Díaz did the damage with a two-run double to right field and three batters into the bottom of the 1st and the M’s were trailing 2-0.

From that point on, Seattle dominated the rest of the game. Only six more Rockies would reach base in the remainder of the game and the Mariner offense exploded in the top of the 2nd. A leadoff double by Ty France and a single for Jorge Polanco put runners on the corners with nobody out. Dylan Moore drove in the first run for Seattle with a sacrifice fly, making it 2-1. Both Luke Raley and Luis Urías were hit by pitches and Urías would actually have to leave the game. New Mariner, Seby Zavala would record his first Mariner hit with an RBI single to left to tie the game at 2-2. With the bases still loaded, J.P. Crawford delivered the big hit that would have been a grand slam in every other ballpark. A 426-foot triple hit off the wall in centerfield, clearing the bases and giving the Mariners a 5-2 lead. A wild pitch then scored Crawford as the M’s put up a six spot in the 2nd to take a 6-2 lead.

It wouldn’t be until the top of the 6th before the Mariners added on. Seby Zavala continued his strong day with his first double of the year and remained at second with two outs. Julio Rodriguez then dunked a fly ball into right field for a base hit, scoring Zavala and making it 7-2. Cal Raleigh provided another blast to follow as he drove a cutter 425-feet (one foot less than Crawford’s) out over the wall in center for a two-run shot and the catcher’s team leading fifth home run of the season. Raleigh added on another run in the top of the 8th with a sacrifice fly to put the Mariners in double digits with a 10-2 lead.

Kentwood graduate Austin Voth then came onto record the final three outs of the game. Elehuris Montero would single off of Voth to begin the inning but was quickly erased on a 6-3 double play. Seattle would wrap up the series as Voth struck out Sean Bouchard swinging for the final out and the M’s celebrated the 10-2 win and their second consecutive series victory.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Cal Raleigh- 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Seby Zavala- 3-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R
• Emerson Hancock (W, 2-2)- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Rockies

• Elías Díaz- 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
• Elehuris Montero- 2-4
• Peter Lambert (L, 2-1)- 3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO

What’s Next

Back-to-back series wins for the Mariners have bumped their record up to 11-11 as they sit just half of a game behind the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West. Seattle can take over first place with a series win in Arlington as the Mariners travel to take on the defending World Series champions in a three-game series to begin a very difficult nine-game gauntlet. After three games with the Rangers, the Mariners will return home for a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks before wrapping up the homestand with a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves.

• Game 1, Tuesday 5:05pm- Logan Gilbert (1-0, 2.33 ERA) vs. Dane Dunning (2-1, 3.91 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 5:05pm- Bryce Miller (3-1, 1.85 ERA) vs. Jon Gray (0-1, 3.15 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 11:35pm- Luis Castillo (1-4, 4.40 ERA) vs. Andrew Heaney (0-2, 6.35 ERA)

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