6/23/24

(Miami, FL) After a rough series in Cleveland, the Seattle Mariners traveled south for the remainder of their nine-game road trip to the state of Florida. First up, a three-game series with the lowly Miami Marlins who much like Cleveland, is a very aggressive team at the plate. A usually fastball dominant rotation for the Mariners would be forced to mix it up more while they were scheduled to face three lefty starters for Miami. However, a couple of late scratches forced the Mariners to completely change their gameplan in the series.

Marlins 3, Mariners 2 (10) (Game 1, June 21st)

Game one on Friday night was a chance for the Mariners to quickly put the series loss in Cleveland behind them and get back on track against the worst team in the National League. George Kirby was the man for the job for the M’s as he took the ball in the opener squaring off against lefty Trevor Rogers for Miami.

The game got off to a good start for Seattle as they grabbed the lead in the top of the 1st. A leadoff single by J.P. Crawford began the game and the Mariner shortstop swiped second base for his second stolen base of the season. Julio Rodríguez moved Crawford to third with a single to right, putting runners on the corners with just one out. Mitch Garver avoided hitting the ball on the ground and instead sent a fly ball to right field. Jesús Sánchez would make the catch but J.P. tagged and scored from third, giving Kirby and the Mariners a 1-0 lead.

George Kirby pitched around a one-out double in the home half of the first, and the lead then doubled in the top of the 2nd. A leadoff walk for Ty France looked like it would pass harmlessly as Mitch Haniger and Victor Robles both flew out for two quick outs. Ryan Bliss had other ideas and in the hottest stretch of his career, came through with two outs. Bliss gave one a ride over the head of Jazz Chisholm Jr. in center and with two outs, France was going on contact. He was able to score easily as Bliss made his way to third with the first triple of his career, extending the Mariner lead to 2-0.

Only one batter reached base from the bottom of the 2nd until the bottom of the 6th. Both Kirby and Rogers shook off their early inning struggles and dialed back in. However, in the bottom of the 6th, a couple of mistakes changed the trajectory of the game. With the bases empty and two outs, Kirby tried to steal a first pitch fastball for a strike at the top of the zone, but Bryan De La Cruz was ready for it. De La Cruz crushed the heater 403-feet for his 14th homer of the season, making it 2-1. The next batter was Josh Bell and he made things go from bad to worse for Seattle. Another first pitch fastball was hit even farther as Bell drove the pitch 413-feet out to center for his eighth long ball of the season. Back-to-back pitches were hit out for back-to-back home runs and Miami had tied the game up at 2-2.

Seattle continued to struggle to get anything going at the plate, but in the top of the 8th, Victor Robles welcomed Andrew Nardi to the game with a single. Robles then stole his fifth bag of the season and Ryan Bliss followed with a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Strikeouts continued to absolutely kill the Mariners as J.P. Crawford, Dylan Moore, and Julio Rodríguez all struck out to let Miami off the hook and waste a golden opportunity as the game remained tied.

After Andrés Muñoz stranded the winning run at third in the bottom of the 9th, the game would head to extra innings. Tyler Locklear entered the game for Ty France and began the top of the 10th at second base. New pitcher Anthony Bender got Mitch Haniger to lineout to left for the first out, keeping Locklear at second. Josh Rojas pinch hit for Robles and moved Locklear up to third with two outs with a sacrifice fly to right. Dominic Canzone pinch hit as well for Ryan Bliss, but could not come through as he flew out to right to end the top of the 10th without the M’s scoring a run. It didn’t take long for the Marlins to do what the Mariners couldn’t as Tim Anderson sent the first pitch in the bottom of the 10th to left field for a base hit. Canzone made a strong throw to try to get Jake Burger at the plate, but the throw was mishandled by Cal Raleigh, allowing Burger to score to walk it off for Miami. The Marlins earned their third straight walk off as they took game one from the Mariners 3-2.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Ryan Bliss- 3-3, 3B, RBI
• J.P. Crawford- 1-4, R
• George Kirby (ND)- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO

Marlins

• Bryan De La Cruz- 3-4, 2B, HR, RBI, R
• Josh Bell- 2-4, HR, RBI, R
• Trevor Rogers (ND)- 6.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO

Mariners 9, Marlins 0 (Game 2, June 22nd)

Miami’s scheduled starter for game two in Jesús Luzardo was scratched and placed on the IL on Saturday and Shaun Anderson would make the spot start for the Marlins. For the Mariners, Logan Gilbert would take the ball after a very dominant start at home against Texas and while the numbers weren’t as good, Gilbert put together another incredible gem on Saturday afternoon.

Once again the Mariners would jump out to an early lead. Two singles began the game for the Mariners as J.P. Crawford and Josh Rojas both reached before Ty France was hit by a pitch to load the bases before the game’s first out. A wild pitch from Anderson to Cal Raleigh moved everyone up 90-feet and allowed Crawford to score, making it 1-0. Raleigh then capitalized on the RBI opportunity with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Rojas and making it 2-0 in the blink of an eye.

Despite giving up two hits, Logan Gilbert faced the minimum through three innings thanks to a couple of double plays. In the 4th, Seattle broke it open. Luke Raley began the inning with his second triple of the season to put a runner immediately on third. Dominic Canzone capitalized on his RBI opportunity with an RBI single to center to make it 3-0. Dylan Moore joined the hit parade with his 13th double on the year to put runners on second and third with still nobody out. Ryan Bliss stayed scorching hot in this game and recorded his second hit of the game in the 4th. A base hit to center scored Canzone making it 4-0 and moved Moore to third with still no outs. J.P. Crawford sent what looked to be a double play ball down to first, but an error by Josh Bell allowed Moore to score easily and Bliss used his speed to score all the way from first as Crawford moved up to second with the Mariner lead all the way up to 6-0.

Former Mariner JT Chargois stopped the bleeding in the 4th, but he gave up his own run in the top of the 5th. Dominic Canzone would absolutely obliterate a sinker right in the middle of the plate and sent an absolute bomb out to right field. The ball traveled 415-feet for Canzone’s seventh home run of the season and the lead continued to grow to 7-0.

Seattle’s offense still wasn’t done. In the top of the 8th, they would put the finishing touches on the offensive explosion. Canzone started the rally with his third hit of the game, a one-out single to right. He would then score when Dylan Moore sent a liner down the left field line for another extra base hit. The Mariner utility man made his way to second for his 14th double of the season and second of the game making it 8-0. Ryan Bliss followed Moore’s lead as he smoked his third double to center to score Moore and make it 9-0.

As Logan Gilbert pitched around a two-out double by Nick Fortes in the bottom of the 8th, he was met by Scott Servais in the dugout. Despite pleading with Servais to let him go back out in the 9th, Gilbert’s day was done and it was once again sensational. After leading the Mariners to the sweep of Texas last Sunday, Gilbert matched his line in that outing with eight more scoreless innings. Logan only allowed four hits and one walk while striking out six Marlins, extending his scoreless streak to 16 consecutive innings. Eduard Bazardo would finish things off with a 1-2-3 bottom of the 9th to earn Gilbert his second straight win and even up the series with a 9-0 Seattle blowout victory.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Logan Gilbert (W, 5-4)- 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
• Dominic Canzone- 4-5, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R
• Ryan Bliss- 3-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R

Marlins

• Nick Gordon- 1-3, 2B
• Jazz Chisholm Jr.- 1-2
• Shaun Anderson (L, 0-2)- 3.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO

Marlins 6, Mariners 4 (Game 3, June 23rd)

For the finale, another spot starter was called upon for the Miami Marlins as Braxton Garrett was placed on the IL on Sunday and Kyle Tyler would make his first major league start while Bryce Miller looked for another win for Seattle.

For the first time in the series it would be Miami striking first but it was once again early in the game. A leadoff double by Jazz Chisholm Jr., put a runner in scoring position right out of the gate. He moved up to third on a sacrifice fly by Josh Bell to left field but a strikeout of Bryan De La Cruz put Bryce Miller in a better spot with two down. Miller then walked Jesús Sánchez to put runners on the corners with two down for Jake Burger. With two outs, things spiraled out of control for the young Mariner starter. Burger sent a grounder through into left field for the two-out RBI knock and kept the inning alive with Miami leading 1-0. The next batter, Nick Gordon, dealt a lot more damage to the M’s. The half-brother of former Mariner Dee Strange-Gordon did not let Miller beat him with a challenge fastball in the middle of the plate. Gordon sent his seventh home run of the year to right to cap the two-out rally and give Miami a 4-0 lead.

Things only got worse for Seattle in the bottom of the 2nd. Vidal Bruján singled to right to begin the inning and he moved up on a swinging bunt by Ali Sánchez. With one out, Jazz Chisholm Jr. continued his strong outing with a base hit to right field, scoring Bruján to make it 5-0. Jesús Sánchez would add on another run in the bottom of the 3rd with his seventh home run of the season and the M’s were in a big 6-0 deficit on a bit of a clunker by the usually reliable Bryce Miller.

Finally, the Mariners got some offense going in the top of the 4th. A one-out walk for Dominic Canzone gave Seattle another baserunner but a Ty France fly out to right had things looking bleak for the Mariners. Luckily, Luke Raley would come through with a big swing to give the Mariners some life. The Mariner left fielder drove a cutter the other way out to left field that would just keep carrying enough to get out of the park. The two-out, two-run shot was Raley’s ninth long ball of the year and put the M’s on the board trailing 6-2.

The score remained the same as neither lineup could muster anything in the 5th and 6th. In the top of the 7th, Seattle continued to chip away and fight back into the game against the Miami bullpen. Huascar Brazoban ran into some trouble after giving up a leadoff single to Raley and walking Mitch Garver. Cal Raleigh pinch hit for Mitch Haniger and a grounder to Josh Bell at first moved Raley to third and Garver to second with one out. Ryan Bliss would push across a run with a groundout to short for the second out. J.P. Crawford clutched up with a two-out RBI single to center to drive in Garver to bring the tying run to the plate with the score 6-4. Dylan Moore would be the final out of the inning as he struck out swinging, but the Mariners were back in it trailing 6-4.

We headed to the 9th with the M’s still down by two and Tanner Scott looked to close things out for the Marlins. Mitch Garver started the inning with a base hit to right to bring the tying run to the plate right away. Cal Raleigh would represent the tying run and drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Ryan Bliss tried to jump on a first pitch fastball, but sent a harmless fly ball to center for the first out. J.P. Crawford did not fare any better as he struck out for out number two. Dylan Moore made things very interesting with a base hit to right to load the bases for Julio Rodríguez. J-Rod smacked a line drive that looked destined for right center. Otto Lopez was having none of it as he made a leaping catch to rob Julio of a game-tying single and instead ended the game as the Mariners dropped the finale and the series, 6-4.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Luke Raley- 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R
• Mitch Garver- 1-2, R, 2 BB
• Bryce Miller (L, 6-6)- 4 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

Marlins

• Nick Gordon- 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Jazz Chisholm Jr.- 2-4, 2B, RBI, R
• Kyle Tyler (ND)- 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO

What’s Next

As if the disastrous road trip couldn’t get any worse for the Mariners (45-35), both Houston and Texas earned sweeps over the weekend as they continue to cut away at the Mariners AL West lead. Going into the new week, Seattle only leads the AL West by 6 games over Houston and 6 1/2 over the Rangers. Houston will open up this week with two games at home with the lowly Colorado Rockies while Texas will visit the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game series.

Meanwhile for the Mariners, they will remain in Florida and try to salvage a series on the road trip as the M’s will visit the Tampa Bay Rays to close out the nine-game road trip. Normally a contender regardless of who is on the roster, Tampa Bay (38-40) is having a down year with injuries really plaguing the team and the offense taking a step back. The Rays are currently fourth in the AL East but sit just four games out of a Wild Card spot in the American League. Tampa Bay has gone back to a standard rotation and dropped the opener strategy that we have seen in year’s past. We will also see a familiar face at Tropicana Field as Luke Raley returns to Tampa Bay and former Mariner Jose Caballero will face his former squad for the first time.

Our player spotlight for this series is Isaac Paredes. While Randy Arozarena was supposed to be the guy for Tampa Bay this season, Paredes has been incredible for a subpar Tampa Bay squad. After a breakout season last year with the Rays, Paredes has pushed things a little bit further in 2024. Much like the Mariners, Tampa Bay doesn’t have a big home run guy but Paredes leads the Rays in that category with 11. He also leads the Rays in batting average, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, and is tied for the team lead in doubles. Now the unquestionable every day third baseman for the Rays, the job security has seemed to increase Paredes production at the plate. While the numbers are low as a team this season for Tampa Bay, there are still plenty of good bats in the lineup and Paredes has been the best bat in 2024.

• Game 1, Monday 3:50pm- Bryan Woo (3-1, 1.67 ERA) vs. Taj Bradley (2-4, 4.06 ERA)
• Game 2, Tuesday 3:50pm- Luis Castillo (6-8, 3.63 ERA) vs. Zack Littell (2-5, 4.20 ERA)
• Game 3, Wednesday 9:10am- George Kirby (6-5, 3.47 ERA) vs. Ryan Pepiot (4-4, 4.61 ERA)

elisportsnetwork.com