6/6/24

(Oakland, CA) After a very strong homestand in which they finished with a 6-1 record, the Seattle Mariners headed back on the road for a quick six-game road trip starting with a three-game series against their AL West foes in the Oakland Athletics. In the penultimate trip for the Mariners to Oakland before the A’s move to Sacramento next season, Seattle was hoping to see their offensive success from the homestand carryover to the road trip. While the Athletics are far from playoff contenders, this team is much better than they were last season and would have a couple of pitchers with a history of success against the Mariners taking the mound in the series. Already coming into this series with a 12-4 record against the AL West, the first place Mariners had another great opportunity to extend their division lead.

Mariners 4, Athletics 3 (Game 1, June 4th)

Opening up the series on the mound were George Kirby for the Seattle Mariners and Mitch Spence for the Oakland A’s. After the starting rotation did not allow a run in all three games against the Angels, Kirby was looking to keep that streak going and it looked like the bats would give him an early lead. Back-to-back one-out singles by Josh Rojas and Julio Rodríguez were followed by a Ty France walk to load the bases. Luke Raley failed to put the ball in play as he went down on strikes for the second out. Mitch Haniger could not come through with two outs either as he popped up to shortstop Max Schuemann to end the inning and leave the bases packed for the M’s.

After Kirby retired the first six batters he faced, he would end up getting the lead in the top of the 3rd. J.P. Crawford led off the inning with his seventh double of the season. Josh Rojas would then record his ninth double of the year, but Crawford could not score as he had to hold up to make sure the ball wasn’t caught by Seth Brown in right, so runners were at second and third with nobody out. A firm groundout by J-Rod to third kept the runners put with one out, but the red-hot Ty France would do some damage. He would also double to right center for his ninth two-bagger of the season, driving in Crawford and Rojas in the process to make it 2-0. Luke Raley would get in on the double party as he sent a liner down the right field line for his fifth double as a Mariner. France would score and the four-double inning had given the Mariners the 3-0 lead.

Zack Gelof would be the first batter to reach for Oakland as he doubled for the sixth time this season with one out in the bottom half of the 3rd. Kirby would bounce back by striking out Max Schuemann for the second out of the inning as former Mariner Abraham Toro came to the plate. Toro would prove that it isn’t always about how hard you hit the ball, but where you hit the ball. A bloop single dropped into the Bermuda Triangle in left center for a two-out base hit. Gelof would score easily to put Oakland on the board, trailing 3-1.

It didn’t take too long for the M’s to get that run back. In the top of the 4th, Dylan Moore would put himself into scoring position with one out with a single and his ninth stolen base of the season. Moore would move to third on a groundout by J.P. Crawford which brought Josh Rojas to the plate with a two-out RBI opportunity. The Mariner third baseman hit a hard grounder at 96-mph off the bat that went off the glove of second baseman Zack Gelof and right to the feet of shortstop Max Schuemann. He would pick it up but threw well wide of first base, giving Rojas an RBI single and second base on the error. Rojas would be left stranded at second but his two-out RBI extended the lead back out to 4-1.

Oakland left the bases loaded in the bottom of the 4th and George Kirby rolled into the bottom of the 6th before getting in some trouble again. Back-to-back hits began the inning as JJ Bleday singled and Brent Rooker hit his 13th double of the year to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Seattle would have to go to the bullpen and Austin Voth came in to try to limit the damage. An groundout by Shea Langeliers to Crawford at short would drive in a run to make it 4-2, but it also kept Rooker at second. Seth Brown would reach on a walk and a swinging bunt by J.D. Davis moved up both runners but a nice play by Voth would get Davis at first for the second out. Voth would put out the fire by getting Gelof to hit a grounder to Crawford to end the inning and keep the Mariner lead at two.

Seattle couldn’t get anything going against the Oakland bullpen so the score remained 4-2 going into the bottom of the 9th where chaos ensued. Andrés Muñoz entered in the save situation and struck out Zack Gelof for the first out. A single by Max Schuemann brought the tying run to the plate in Abraham Toro, but he would fly out to left for the second out. Muñoz then fell apart as he gave up a single to Miguel Andújar to bring the winning run to the plate. A wild pitch would not only allow Schuemann to score, but a collision at the plate forced Muñoz to leave the game with the tying run on second in the form of pinch runner Daz Cameron. Tayler Saucedo was thrust into closing duty but he would put the winning run on by walking JJ Bleday. With the dangerous 2023 All-Star Brent Rooker coming to the plate, it felt like the game was Oakland’s for the taking. With the count full, Saucedo got Rooker to chase a sinker and hit a weak chopper right back to the Mariner pitcher. A toss to first extinguished the A’s rally and the Mariners survived the comeback bid with a 4-3 win.

NOTE: Andrés Muñoz exited the game due to precautionary reasons due to a back injury. Muñoz has been dealing with the back issue for weeks but the collision forced Muñoz to get an MRI on Wednesday. There is no word on the results but manager Scott Servais is optimistic that Muñoz will avoid the IL and be available in Kansas City.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Josh Rojas- 3-5, 2B, RBI, R
• Ty France- 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, R, BB
• George Kirby (W, 5-5)- 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 SO

Athletics

• JJ Bleday- 2-4, R, BB
• Abraham Toro- 1-4, RBI
• Mitch Spence (L, 4-3)- 6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

Athletics 2, Mariners 1 (Game 2, June 5th)

Game two of the series turned out to be quite the pitcher’s duel between Logan Gilbert and Joey Estes. Entering Wednesday night’s game, Estes had an ERA north of 6.00 and only one win on the season. That one win came against the Mariners in Seattle on May 11th and the young starter would one up that outing.

Neither side got anybody on base in the first two innings. The first baserunner came in the bottom of the 3rd for Oakland and damage would be done. With one out, Zack Gelof drove a fastball on the outside corner out to right center field for his fifth home run of the season. The first hit of the game also drove in the first run as the A’s jumped out to a 1-0 lead.

Joey Estes sat down the Mariners in order in the top of the 4th and 5th and was still perfect, 15 up and 15 down. The lineup would get Estes another run in the bottom of the 5th but they were helped out mightily by some Mariner mistakes. A one-out single by Daz Cameron put some good speed on base for Oakland. Logan Gilbert tried to keep Cameron close, but an errant throw over to first combined with a ton of space in foul territory allowed Cameron to get all the way to third on the error. Gilbert would then turn his attention towards the batter in Zack Gelof, but a splitter went off the glove of Cal Raleigh for a passed ball which allowed Cameron to score. Two errors gave the A’s another run and put the Mariners in a 2-0 hole.

The story of the game was Joey Estes. The young righty was simply dominant against the Mariners just like he was the first time he faced them this season. Perfect through six innings, Estes would lose his bid for history on his first pitch of the top of the 7th when J.P. Crawford hit his eighth double of the season. Estes would finish his day by getting Josh Rojas to fly out but he would not get the opportunity to get through the seventh. It was still a career-best outing for Estes as he went 6 1/3 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed and no walks while striking out five.

With Estes out of the game, the Mariner bats started to wake up a little bit. Julio Rodríguez drew a walk off of reliever Austin Adams before Cal Raleigh flew out for the second out. Adams then hit Ty France to load the bases with two outs which forced Oakland manager Mark Kotsay to go to his bullpen and bring in lefty T.J. McFarland. Scott Servais would counter by pinch hitting the right-handed Mitch Garver for the lefty Luke Raley. The move didn’t payoff for Seattle as Garver grounded out to short to end the bases loaded threat with Seattle still trailing 2-0.

One of the best closers in all of baseball in flamethrower Mason Miller had to enter in the bottom of the 8th for Oakland but got Seattle to strand runners at first and second. With the M’s down to their final three outs in the top of the 9th, the zero would finally get taken off the board. J-Rod led off the inning and found himself in a 3-2 count. Miller went with his heater and located a 102-mph fastball at the top of the zone. Julio was able to catch up to hit and sent it out to center for his fifth home run of the season. That cut the Mariner deficit down to 2-1.

Things continued to build for the M’s as Cal Raleigh followed Julio’s home run with a walk to put the tying runner on with nobody out. Ty France would be the first out of the inning as he struck out chasing a 2-2 slider. That brought new Mariner Victor Robles to the plate for his first at-bat as a Mariner. It was not an easy AB and Robles did not endear himself to the PNW as he hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end another nailbiter. This one did not end in the Mariners favor as they dropped game two in Oakland 2-1.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Julio Rodríguez- 1-3, HR, RBI, R, BB
• J.P. Crawford- 1-4, 2B
• Logan Gilbert (L, 3-4)- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO

Athletics

• Joey Estes (W, 2-1)- 6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO
• Zack Gelof- 2-3, HR, RBI, R, SB
• JJ Bleday- 1-3, 2B

Mariners 3, Athletics 0 (Game 3, June 6th)

After missing the first month of the season, Bryan Woo has made up for lost time and has been the best pitcher for the Mariners through the month of May. In his first start of June, Woo continued to have the same success as he took on a pitcher who has had the Mariners number throughout the years in lefty JP Sears.

With the series on the line, Woo pitched around a leadoff double by Abraham Toro in the first and an error by Victor Robles in left that put the leadoff man on second in the bottom of the 2nd. Seattle did not get their first baserunner until the top of the 3rd when Mitch Garver drew a leadoff walk and Victor Robles was hit by a pitch. Ryan Bliss would look to move the runners over by getting down a bunt but Oakland first baseman Tyler Soderstrom was not standing on the base for some reason, resulting in a bunt single for the rookie. With the bases loaded and nobody out, J.P. Crawford would go down swinging for the first out. Dylan Moore did not share the same fate as he sent a fly ball to deep left to score Garver and give the M’s the 1-0 lead.

If I didn’t see it with my own eyes then I wouldn’t believe what happened in the top of the 4th. Cal Raleigh was hit by a pitch with one out and that is when the unthinkable happened. For just the second time in his big league career, Cal Raleigh stole a base and got himself into scoring position. With a perfect mark of 2-2 in stolen bases, Cal remained at second with two outs for Mitch Garver. The big free agent signing up the offseason had his best day as a Mariner on Thursday afternoon and a two-out base hit to left center kept it going. The speedy (?) Raleigh was able to score from second and the lead grew to 2-0.

For Bryan Woo, it was his second best start of the season behind only his dominant outing in the Bronx. After giving up the leadoff double in the bottom of the first, only two more Oakland batters reached, one on the error in the 2nd and a harmless single by Max Schuemann in the 5th. Woo was aggressive in the strike zone and pitching in his hometown seemed to light a fire under the young righty. Woo somehow continues to lower his ERA as he went six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and not walking a batter while striking out six. With Woo completely dominating, there is no question that the Seattle Mariners have the deepest rotation in the sport.

The bullpen picked up where Woo left off. With their leader injured and not available for a couple of days, other guys have had to step up and Austin Voth and Mike Baumann did their parts with easy 1-2-3 innings in both the 7th and 8th. Insurance would come in the top of the 9th and once again it would be Mitch Garver providing it. A sinker would sail right over the heart of the plate and Garver unloaded on it out to left center. It would be Garver’s sixth home run of the year and the Mariner lead grew to 3-0.

No Andrés Muñoz meant that Ryne Stanek would be the man to close things out in the bottom of the 9th. His bullpen mates had already set the table and Stanek cleaned it up. An Abraham Toro fly out and Miguel Andújar hard groundout to Josh Rojas at third put the M’s an out away from a series win. JJ Bleday would send a high pop up into shallow right field and Dylan Moore drifted back from second to make the catch and put the game away. While it wasn’t the prettiest series, it was still a series win as the Mariners took the rubber game from the A’s 3-0.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Bryan Woo (W, 3-0)- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO
• Mitch Garver- 2-2, HR, 2 RBI, R, 2 BB
• Bullpen (Austin Voth, Mike Baumann, Ryne Stanek)- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO

Athletics

• JP Sears (L, 4-5)- 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO
• Abraham Toro- 1-4, 2B

What’s Next

While it wasn’t an easy series win, it was a series win for the Seattle Mariners (36-28) as they maintained and actually extended their division lead. With Texas dropping two of three to Detroit, the Mariners division lead grew to five games ahead of the Rangers and 7 1/2 ahead of the Houston Astros. Now that the calendar has turned to June, teams begin to think about the trade deadline. There is no doubt that the Mariners will be buyers and will look to add a couple of bats to a struggling lineup. However, they also have to wait for other teams to decide that they want to sell and the only two teams already in sell mode are the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins. Of those two teams, one name to look out for is Luis Robert Jr. from Chicago who is already actively seeking trade packages for the young outfielder.

Seattle will have one of their few tough series in June coming up next as they will visit the Kansas City Royals (37-26) for the final three games between the two teams this season. The Mariners took two of three when the two teams met in Seattle last month but the games were anything but easy. The Royals won eight in a row after leaving Seattle but are 3-7 in their last 10 games. Kansas City is exceeding expectations thanks to tremendous pitching and a bona fide superstar in Bobby Witt Jr. as the Royals are just four games back of Cleveland in the AL Central and currently hold the second Wild Card in the American League.

While the Royals are known for their quickness and speed (58 stolen bases, 2nd in the AL), one player to take note of coming into this series is Salvador Perez. The future Hall of Fame catcher is having a career year at the plate to add to his elite defense. Perez is hitting .309 so far in 2024 with on on-base percentage of .379. Salvy is sitting on 10 home runs and 49 RBI this season and looks to be an All-Star starter in the Midsummer Classic next month. While he was held in check in the series in Seattle, Perez is a career .295 hitter with 12 home runs against the Mariners in his career.

• Game 1, Friday 5:10pm- Bryce Miller (5-5, 3.18 ERA) vs. Daniel Lynch (0-0, 1.50 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 1:10pm- Luis Castillo (5-6, 2.99 ERA) vs. Alec Marsh (4-3, 3.76 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 11:10am- George Kirby (5-5, 4.05 ERA) vs. Cole Ragans (4-4, 3.21 ERA)

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