7/24/24

(Seattle, WA) After losing a massive series at home to the Houston Astros, the Seattle Mariners needed to focus back in and find a way to stop the bleeding in what turned into a tight division race in the AL West. Even losing the series to Houston, the Mariners ended that series tied atop the division with the Astros and with a golden opportunity to right the ship before hitting the road.

A three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels set the M’s up to rebound and get momentum back on their side in what has been a very difficult stretch for the team. With Julio Rodríguez injured and Ty France no longer with the team after being placed on waivers, some new faces would have to lead the charge and lift a historically bad offense. Instead of getting the bounce back they needed, things quickly went from bad to worse as the three-game set with the Angels turned into a PNW nightmare.

Angels 3, Mariners 1 (Game 1, July 22nd)

To begin the series, Bryce Miller made his first start of the second half of the season in his first start in a week and a half. Former Mariner, Tyler Anderson would make the start for the Angels as the lefty looked to have a better outing against the Mariner lineup after running into some issues his last time out against Seattle.

Things started off bad for the Mariners but good at the same time. J.P. Crawford would be hit on the hand on the second pitch thrown by Anderson. While Crawford stayed in the game to run the bases, he left the game between innings with a broken finger. J.P. would be placed on the IL after the game and will miss 4 to 6 weeks in another blow to the Mariners roster. Victor Robles stayed hot with a perfectly placed bunt single to put runners at first and second with nobody out. After a fly out by Jorge Polanco, Cal Raleigh cashed in with a base hit to center. Crawford scored as he exited the game shortly after, but an early run for the Mariners had them up 1-0 after an inning.

Things were extremely quiet after that for both the M’s and Angels. No baserunner reached scoring position from the 2nd thru 5th innings as Tyler Anderson racked up the strikeouts while Bryce Miller let his defense do the work while striking out five himself. Both Miller and Anderson took advantage of a bigger strike zone from home plate umpire Mike Estabrook. The game flew by but in the 6th both teams got runners in scoring position. A two-out double by Taylor Ward was wasted by the Angels, but a single by Victor Robles and walk by Cal Raleigh would be left stranded as the game remained 1-0 late.

Ryne Stanek took over for Bryce Miller late and it was evident immediately that he was not on his game. Back-to-back walks to Jo Adell and Anthony Rendon got the Angels going. After striking out Nolan Schanuel for the first out, Stanek was replaced by Andrés Muñoz who would look for the five-out save. After Jo Adell and Anthony Rendon pulled off the double steal to put runners at second and third with one out, Taylor Ward hit a deep fly ball to center to score Adell and tie the game at 1-1. Muñoz would get Willie Calhoun to groundout to end the inning, but the damage was done with the game tied up.

A single by Jonatan Clase and a wild pitch couldn’t be taken advantage of as the game went to 9th 1-1. Trent Thornton made quick work of the first two outs, retiring Logan O’Hoppe and Mickey Moniak. He then lost command and walked Brandon Drury and Zach Neto to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. For the third time this season, Jo Adell delivered a big hit late against the Mariners. A base hit up the middle would lead to a play at the plate, but the throw got away from Cal Raleigh allowing Drury and Neto to score on the error. A bullpen collapse put the Mariners down 3-1 and Carlos Estévez made quick work of the M’s in the bottom of the 9th. One of the worst losses of the season took the energy out of T-Mobile Park as boos rained down on the Mariners after a 3-1 loss to the Angels.

Notable Performances

Angels

• Taylor Ward- 2-3, 2B, RBI
• Jo Adell- 1-3, RBI, R, BB
• Tyler Anderson (ND)- 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

Mariners

• Bryce Miller (ND)- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO
• Victor Robles- 2-4
• Cal Raleigh- 1-3, RBI, BB

Angels 5, Mariners 1 (Game 2, July 23rd)

With no Julio Rodríguez or J.P. Crawford, the Mariners lineup looked very different in game two with the Angels. However, there was good news as All-Star Logan Gilbert took the ball for the Mariners looking to give them another quality start. Opposite him would be José Soriano who looked to continue his hot stretch since returning from the IL at the beginning of July.

Gilbert absolutely rolled through the first four innings of his outing. He attacked the Angel hitters with his full repertoire and did not allow a baserunner, retiring the first 12 Angels in order. Seattle’s lack of offense was once again an issue as they couldn’t take advantage of Gilbert’s hot start. Only three Mariners reached in the first four innings, and neither free passes for Cal Raleigh or Cade Marlowe or Tyler Locklear’s single could be capitalized on.

In the top of the 5th, Los Angeles finally got to Gilbert. Back-to-back singles by Logan O’Hoppe and Nolan Schanuel gave the Angels their first two baserunners of the game. A throwing error by Josh Rojas followed, allowing Brandon Drury to reach and loading the bases with still nobody out. A walk to Mickey Moniak gifted the Angels the first run of the game and the threat still very much alive. Manager Ron Washington got risky and had Zach Neto lay down a bases loaded bunt. Logan Gilbert would field the ball on his knees and make the throw to the plate, but his wild throw got by Raleigh. That allowed a second run to score and made it 3-0. After retiring the next two batters, Gilbert couldn’t minimize the damage as the returning Luis Rengifo singled to center to score Moniak and Neto. In the blink of an eye Gilbert went from completely dominating to staring down a 5-0 deficit.

Seattle finally put something together in the bottom of the 5th. In his Mariner debut, Jason Vosler led off the inning with a double to give the Mariners their first runner in scoring position. A wild pitch moved him to third and a walk to Dylan Moore put runners on the corners with nobody out. With a threat brewing, the Mariners had a massive opportunity to get back into the game. The threat was cut short though as Cade Marlowe hit into a 4-6-3 double play and the Angels traded a run for two outs as Vosler scored, making it 5-1.

While the Mariners bullpen kept the deficit in place, the bats struggled to get anything going against Soriano. Finally in the bottom of the 8th, a one-out single for Cade Marlowe ended a stretch of nine consecutive Mariners retired. He would move up to second on a wild pitch, but a two-out walk also put Victor Robles on base. With plenty of speed on, the Angels starter was pulled after 7 2/3 strong innings and flamethrower Ben Joyce entered the game. He would walk Cal Raleigh to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. While Jorge Polanco squared one up, T-Mobile Park kept it in play as Mickey Moniak made the catch in center to end the inning and the threat. Seattle couldn’t do anything in the 9th either against Roansy Contreras and Seattle dropped game two and the series, losing 5-1 to the Angels.

Notable Performances

Angels

• José Soriano (W, 6-7)- 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO
• Luis Rengifo- 1-4, 2 RBI
• Mickey Moniak- 1-3, RBI, R, BB

Mariners

• Jason Vosler- 1-3, 2B, R, BB
• Logan Gilbert (L, 6-6)- 6.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

Angels 2, Mariners 1 (Game 3, July 24th)

With how bad the Mariners played at the end of June and this far into July, they still had not been swept in 2024. They would hope to maintain that trend in the finale with ace Luis Castillo on the mound against a team he has utterly dominated in his career. For the Angels, they would hope that struggling starter Griffin Canning could get back on track against a putrid Mariner lineup.

Luis Castillo worked out of some early trouble in the 1st and Seattle drew first blood in the bottom of the 2nd. Leading off the inning, Mitch Haniger got ahead of Canning 3-1 and was thinking fastball the whole time. He got a heater on the outer half and drove it the other way to right center. The ball ended up in the J-Rod Squad for Haniger’s ninth home run of the season. The blast gave the Mariners some early energy and an early lead, 1-0.

Some good defense prevented the Mariners from expanding their lead. In the bottom of the 4th, Seattle loaded the bases on a Jorge Polanco double, followed by a Mitch Haniger walk and Jason Vosler single. With nobody out, Tyler Locklear hit a missile down the third base line. Luis Rengifo made a great stop, stepped on third, and threw Polanco out at home for a 5-2 double play that stopped that threat. In the 5th, Cal Raleigh sent a deep drive towards the right field corner that would have scored Josh Rojas. Instead, Jo Adell made a terrific running catch to take the hit away and keep it 1-0.

While the Angels consistently had traffic on base, they could not get anything across against Luis Castillo. Some long battles shortened Castillo’s outing to just six innings, but Los Angeles couldn’t get a run in. La Piedra filled up the zone in his six innings and did allow five hits and two walks, but more importantly he did not allow a run and struck out seven. Castillo ended his outing with a solid run of seven consecutive hitters retired and protected the 1-0 lead and handed things over to the bullpen.

After a scoreless 7th spun by Collin Snider, Gregory Santos came on for the 8th. A single by Nolan Schanuel started the inning, but Santos struck out Luis Rengifo and got Taylor Ward to groundout, but did allow Schanuel to move up to second. Willie Calhoun then did what most Mariner fans were expecting. A base hit to left was enough to score Schanuel and tie the game at 1-1. Santos then balked as he injured his knee which moved pinch runner Kevin Pillar to second. Trent Thornton had to come in for the injured Santos, but he wouldn’t be able to escape the jam. A base hit by Brandon Drury brought the Angels back and put the Mariners in a hole late, 2-1.

Down to their final three outs, Seattle had to try to get the job done against Carlos Estévez. Just like in the opener, the M’s had nothing on Estévez in the bottom of the 9th. Vosler, Locklear, and Raley were retired very quickly and more boos were thrown down by a frustrated Mariner fan base. For the first time in 2024, the Mariners had been swept as they blew an 8th inning lead for the second time in the series, losing to the Angels 2-1.

Notable Performances

Angels

• Brandon Drury- 2-4, RBI
• Nolan Schanuel- 2-3, R, BB
• Griffin Canning (ND)- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO

Mariners

• Luis Castillo (ND)- 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
• Mitch Haniger- 1-3, HR, RBI, R, BB

What’s Next

After being swept for the first time this season, Seattle (53-51) now sit just two games above .500 and in second place in the AL West. Houston lost two out of three in Oakland, but still gained a game on the M’s in the division. Texas took advantage of the Mariners and Astros struggles this week and now find themselves just three games back in the AL West as well. What once looked like a division the Mariners would run away with now is once again a tight three team race. Houston returns home for a very difficult three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend while Texas will head north of the border for three games against the Toronto Blue Jays.

In another series that presents a golden opportunity to get the Mariners back on track, they will start their six-game Sox road trip with three games in the Windy City against the Chicago White Sox. The worst team in baseball so far this season, the White Sox (27-77) still have the one weapon that can beat the Mariners. Their competent starting rotation lines up in a bad way for the Mariners as they will face the three best starters that the White Sox have to offer. Seattle’s own pitching has to be great which is a big ask with how bad the Mariner bullpen has been lately.

Pitching will be the spotlight for the White Sox and two of them stand out for a few reasons. Erick Fedde is scheduled to pitch Saturday in game two while Garrett Crochet is expected to close out the series on Sunday. Now both Fedde and Crochet are hot commodities on the trade market right now. A lot of playoff teams are searching for pitching with teams like the Dodgers, Orioles, Brewers, and Yankees needing more pitching for the stretch run. Either of these guys could end up getting traded before they take the mound in this series. Erick Fedde spent 2023 in the KBO in South Korea and looks like a changed pitcher as he will likely blow away his previous career highs in every statistic by mid-August.

Garrett Crochet is the golden goose for the 2024 Trade Deadline. The Cy Young contender is under club control for the next couple of seasons and is undoubtedly the breakout star in baseball this season. The 25-year-old southpaw broke out in May and currently leads the American League in strikeouts with 157. When he faced the Mariners back in June, Crochet threw 102 pitches and 101 of them were fastballs. The only non-fastball was a changeup that was hit out of the park by Tyler Locklear but Crochet ended up striking out 13 Mariners, a career-high. The best chance for the M’s to beat Crochet is by him getting traded before Sunday. If they do have to face him, the M’s have to be ready to hit the fastball or he could fly by his 13 strikeouts form the first meeting.

• Game 1, Friday 5:10pm- George Kirby (7-7, 3.20 ERA) vs. Drew Thorpe (3-1, 3.03 ERA)
• Game 2, Saturday 4:15pm (FOX)- Bryan Woo (4-1, 2.54 ERA) vs. Erick Fedde (7-3, 2.98 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 11:10am- Bryce Miller (7-7, 3.41 ERA) vs. Garrett Crochet (6-7, 3.07 ERA)

elisportsnetwork.com