7/28/24

(Chicago, IL) Vibes were at an all-time low for the 2024 Seattle Mariners after a terrible six-game homestand coming out of the All-Star break. Sitting in second place in the AL West for the first time since May 11th, the M’s had to make some changes and simply had to start playing better or the offseason would start earlier than anyone had hoped.

Seattle did have an opportunity for some wins as they traveled to Chicago for the first leg of their Sox road trip with three games against the Chicago White Sox. For Chicago, 2024 brought with it a historically bad team that is on pace to finish with the worst record in baseball since the 1962 New York Mets who finished 40-120. With the trade deadline just days away, the White Sox had plenty of eyes on their squad with a multitude of players brought up in trade consideration. With the Mariners clear buyers and the White Sox clear sellers, neither team knew exactly who they would be playing against heading into each game.

Before Seattle took the field in Chicago for the opener on Friday, moves had already been made that changed the outlook of the Mariners roster. First, on Thursday night the biggest trade so far at this year’s deadline was made by Jerry Dipoto. Seattle acquired All-Star outfielder and playoff superstar Randy Arozarena from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor leaguers Aidan Smith and Brody Hopkins and a player to be named later. While Arozarena’s numbers don’t look great, they are much better since the beginning of June. Production is up for the new Mariner left fielder and Seattle did not have to give up too much to get him. To make the trade even better, Arozarena is under club control until after the 2026 season which makes this trade beneficial for the stretch run this season and into the future.

In a smaller move on Friday before game one, Seattle acquired reliever Yimi García from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for outfielder Jonatan Clase and minor league catcher Jacob Sharp. García is a 33-year-old veteran who is in the midst of the best season of his career. While never a heavy strikeout guy, García will not walk many batters and draws a lot of soft contact against opposing batters. Seattle’s bullpen issues were an unexpected problem after Matt Brash went down and Ryne Stanek, who was traded to the New York Mets on Friday, failed to fill that role, García will join Santos in being the bridge from the starters to Andrés Muñoz. Clase became available after Seattle got Arozarena. With his arrival as well as Victor Robles breakout and Julio’s inevitable return, there wasn’t going to be much playing time left for Clase who can now get an opportunity at the big-league level in Toronto.

Mariners 10, White Sox 0 (Game 1, July 26th)

With all the excitement surrounding the Mariners trades, they still had business to take care of on the field as Seattle looked to build some momentum before the new guys arrived. In the opener of the three-game series, George Kirby took the mound looking to extend his quality start streak to nine. For Chicago, Drew Thrope faced the Mariners for the first time since he made his MLB debut at T-Mobile Park back in June as he looked to snap the White Sox 11-game losing streak.

In the top of the 1st, Seattle put some pressure on Drew Thorpe right out of the gate. The second batter of the game, Cal Raleigh hit his 10th double of the season to put a runner in scoring position. Jorge Polanco and Mitch Haniger followed with walks to load the bases with one out. Luke Raley came to the plate and continued to struggle as he struck out swinging for a big second out for Thorpe. Things then fell apart for the young righty in an offensive explosion for the M’s. Jason Vosler jumped on a first pitch fastball right down the middle and lined it into right field. The base hit allowed Raleigh and Polanco to score easily to give the M’s a 2-0 lead. A big-time struggling bat kept things going as Mitch Garver laced a double to the wall in left. Haniger scored on Garver’s 14th double of the season, making it 3-0.

Seattle still wasn’t done in the 1st inning. Josh Rojas came to the plate and broke it wide open for the M’s and Kirby. Another fastball right over the heart of the plate to Josh Rojas was not missed by the lefty. A high three-run home run gave Rojas his fifth homer of the year and gave the Mariners a 6-0 lead. Next up was Dylan Moore who got ahead 2-1. Putting Thorpe in consistent fastball counts made things easier for the Mariners and Dylan Moore got a fastball and sent it out to left center for home run number nine this year. Back-to-back homers extended the lead to 7-0. For the second time in the inning, Victor Robles came to the plate and after grounding out his first time, Robles did some damage this time. A drive down the left field line stayed fair for his second home run of the year. It was the first time since 2022 the Mariners hit back-to-back-to-back home runs as Drew Thorpe exited the game after just 2/3 of an inning but the Mariners had a sizeable 8-0 before George Kirby ever took the mound.

George Kirby could pitch free and easy and for a pitcher that already fills up the zone, Chicago had to come up ready to swing. While he would give up more hits than usual, Kirby did exactly what he needed to do and made the White Sox put the ball in play. The right hander pitched with traffic a lot but never let Chicago build something big to get back in the game. Kirby would make it nine consecutive quality starts after this outing, going seven scoreless innings and allowing six hits and one walk while striking out seven. It was a pretty stress-free outing for Kirby which was well deserved with how the rotation had been treated by the lineup as of late.

With already a large lead, a player that needs to step up for the Mariners if they hope to compete into October and make a deep playoff run did just that. With Cal Raleigh on first after a one-out single in the top of the 4th, Jorge Polanco helped the Mariners put up double digit runs for just the fourth time this season. Facing his former division rivals, Polanco sent a ball out to left center from the right side of the plate for Polo’s seventh home run of the season. The two-run blast traveled 421-feet and made it 10-0 Mariners.

Before Yimi García arrived, Seattle’s bullpen got to build some momentum back up with a massive lead and only six outs to get after Kirby’s seven strong frames. Trent Thornton was the first out of the bullpen and got in some trouble with a one-out double by Tommy Pham followed by a walk for Andrew Vaughn. Thornton got Eloy Jiménez to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to escape that inning and pass the baton to Gabe Speier in the 9th. The lefty quickly dismissed Andrew Benintendi via a strike out before walking Paul DeJong. Speier then got his own double by as Brooks Baldwin grounded out to Polanco at second for a 4-6-3 double play to put an end to the Mariners three-game losing streak. A 10-0 win got the road trip off to a great start as the M’s took game one against the White Sox.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Mitch Garver- 3-3, 2B, RBI, R, 2 BB
• Jorge Polanco- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R, BB
• George Kirby (W, 8-7)- 7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

White Sox

• Tommy Pham- 3-4, 2B
• Paul DeJong- 1-3, 2B, BB
• Drew Thorpe (L, 3-2)- 0.2 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO

Mariners 6, White Sox 3 (Game 2, July 27th)

Two of the pitchers in the Chicago White Sox starting rotation look to be top trade targets for every team that needs a starting pitcher and they would both get starts in the series with Seattle. First up, Erick Fedde took the ball in game two as he took on Bryan Woo who looked much better against Houston than he did in his return start against the Angels prior to the break. Both Randy Arozarena and Yimi García would make their Mariner debuts in this one.

While it wasn’t the dream first AB for Arozarena who struck out in the 1st, Bryan Woo bought the lineup some time to get comfortable against Fedde. In the bottom of the 2nd, Chicago put some pressure on Woo with a one-out rally. A single by Andrew Benintendi would be followed by Paul DeJong’s 14th double of the season put runners on second and third. A walk to Nicky Lopez loaded the bases with one out, but Woo got the important second out as Brooks Baldwin hit a shallow fly ball to left that was caught by Arozarena and kept the runners put. Chuckie Robinson sent a soft chopper right back to Woo who flipped it to Cal Raleigh at the plate to end the inning and keep things scoreless.

After Randy Arozarena recorded his first Mariner hit on an infield single, Seattle left runners stranded on first and third and opened the door for the White Sox to strike first. An error by Josh Rojas put Luis Robert Jr. on to begin the bottom of the 3rd and he got himself in scoring position by stealing second. After retiring Gavin Sheets and Tommy Pham, Woo couldn’t quite escape the jam against Andrew Vaughn. Vaughn sent a hard grounder that just clipped off the glove of Dylan Moore at shortstop. Robert never stopped running and tried to score as Polanco picked up the lose ball to try to make a play at the plate. Robert would slide in safely, giving Vaughn an RBI and giving the White Sox a 1-0 lead.

It took almost no time for the Mariners to even things back up. Leading off the top of the 4th, Jorge Polanco worked a full count against Fedde and then got a couple of pitches to hit. After fouling off the first one, Polanco got a cutter at the bottom of the zone and crushed it to dead center for a solo bomb. Polanco’s eighth homer of the year tied the game at 1-1. Walks to Mitch Haniger and Josh Rojas kept the threat alive with two outs for Dylan Moore. He would flip a cutter on the outside corner out to right field for a two-out knock. Haniger scored easily and Moore’s two-out knock gave Seattle their first lead of the game, 2-1. Victor Robles stayed scorching hot with his own two-out RBI single to left, scoring Rojas and making it 3-1.

Surprisingly, Chicago pulled Erick Fedde after just four innings of work which just showed that they indeed are shopping him to other teams. The bullpen took over and Justin Anderson was up first and did not receive a warm welcome from the M’s. Cal Raleigh crushed the second pitch thrown by Anderson 429-feet for a solo shot and Raleigh’s 21st home run of the season, making it 4-1. The very next batter was Jorge Polanco and Anderson made the mistake of throwing a challenge heater right down the middle to a hot hitter. Polanco pulled his second home run of the game and ninth of the season out to right field as the M’s went back-to-back yet again in this series. The home run party continued to expand the lead out to 5-1 for the Mariners.

Bryan Woo only went four innings for the Mariners as they continue to monitor his workload. After Collin Snider hurled a scoreless 5th, Austin Voth wasn’t as fortunate in the bottom of the 6th. After two straight groundouts by Paul DeJong and Nicky Lopez, Brooks Baldwin doubled to right field for his second two-bagger of the season. Defensive issues continued to hurt the Mariners in this one as a grounder off the bat of Chuckie Robinson was mishandled by Dylan Moore. That allowed Baldwin to score from second on the error and tightening things up at 5-2.

In the top of the 8th, Seattle was able to add on to their lead. With the bases empty and two outs, Davis Martin issued back-to-back walks to Randy Arozarena and Cal Raleigh, giving Jorge Polanco a chance to hit with runners on. Polanco cashed in and continued to have his best series of the season with a line drive to right field. Arozarena scored easily with his plus speed and while Jason Vosler would fly out with the bases loaded to end the inning, the M’s had added an insurance run with a 6-2 lead.

Yimi García made his Mariner debut in the bottom of the 7th and needed just ten pitches in a quick 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. Gregory Santos would take over in the bottom of the 8th against his former team in his first appearance since a knee injury forced him to leave the game in the finale against the Angels. There was some emotion from Santos but he was in a good spot with a man on first and two outs. then things fell apart a bit. Brooks Baldwin hit his second double of the game to right to put runners on second and third. Santos then hit Eloy Jiménez to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Andrés Muñoz had to come in early to try to escape the jam, but a wild pitch to Luis Robert Jr. allowed Paul DeJong to score, making it 6-3. Muñoz quickly flushed it to strikeout Robert and minimize the damage as the Mariners headed to the 9th leading 6-3.

Muñoz stayed on to look for a four-out save and had no issues doing so. A strikeout of Gavin Sheets began the inning and Tommy Pham’s groundout to Josh Rojas at third set the table for the final out. Andrew Vaughn didn’t fare any better as he grounded out to Dylan Moore at short to end the middle game of the series. Seattle took game two 6-3, earning them the series win and a chance for the sweep in the finale on Sunday afternoon.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Jorge Polanco- 3-5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Victor Robles- 3-6, RBI
• Bryan Woo (ND)- 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

White Sox

• Brooks Baldwin- 3-4, 2 2B, R, SB
• Paul DeJong- 2-4, 2B, R
• Erick Fedde (L, 7-4)- 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

Mariners 6, White Sox 3 (Game 3, July 28th)

With the series already in the bag, Seattle entered Sunday’s finale looking to earn their fifth series sweep of the season. That burden would fall on the shoulders of Bryce Miller who entered the finale with a 13-inning scoreless streak dating back to the first half of the season. Opposite him was the golden goose of the deadline in lefty breakout star Garrett Crochet who struck out 13 Mariners when he faced Seattle in June.

Randy Arozarena recorded the first hit of the game on a swinging bunt up the third base line with one out in the 1st. Leading the sport in home runs by a catcher, Cal Raleigh extended his lead in that category, blasting his 22nd home run of the season out to left center. In just three batters, the Mariners already had as many hits and more runs against Crochet than they had in seven innings against the lefty on June 13th. The quick strike gave Bryce Miller a 2-0 lead as he took the mound.

A quick 1-2-3 bottom of the 1st from Miller got the M’s right back to the plate and right back onto the scoreboard. Dylan Moore began the inning with his 15th double of the season and stole third as Mitch Haniger walked to put runners on the corners with nobody out. After Tyler Locklear popped out for the first out, Leo Rivas sent a grounder to shortstop Nicky Lopez. Chicago cut down Haniger at second, but Rivas speed combined with a soft hit grounder was too much and he beat out the double play bid. That allowed Moore to score to make it 3-0. A bunt single for Victor Robles and another swinging bunt single by Arozarena loaded the bases, but Cal Raleigh popped out to minimize the damage done against Crochet.

Things looked like they would take a turn for the worse when Eloy Jiménez sent a hard-hit grounder right back off the foot of Bryce Miller. While Jiménez reached on the infield single, attention quickly turned to the health of Miller who attempted to walk off the injured foot. He would stay in the game and needed just one pitch to show he was fine as Andrew Benintendi hit into a 3-6 double play to end the inning and give Miller some time to walk off the injury.

Seattle’s bats gave their starter even more time with some help from the putrid White Sox defense. After a single by Jorge Polanco and a strikeout of Mitch Garver, Garrett Crochet looked like he had pitched his first scoreless frame as Dylan Moore hit a routine grounder to third for what looked to be an inning ending double play. Instead, Paul DeJong booted it allowing Moore to reach and Polanco to advance to second with one out. A double steal moved the runners up to second and third with Mitch Haniger at the plate. He also sent a routine grounder to DeJong at third and again the third baseman whiffed on it allowing the ball to get into left field. Polanco and Moore scored on the error, extending the Seattle lead to 5-0 on the two unearned runs.

Bryce Miller continued to coast as he retired DeJong and Brooks Baldwin for two quick outs in the bottom of the 3rd. Korey Lee and Nicky Lopez caught breaks with two soft hit singles into right field to keep the inning alive and put runners on first and second. Tommy Pham cashed in on Chicago’s first opportunity with a runner in scoring position and smoked a grounder the other way and into right field. Lee scored without a throw and Chicago was on the board. Miller would keep the score 5-1 thanks to a nice running catch on the warning track in right center by Mitch Haniger to take away a two-run double from Luis Robert Jr. to end the inning.

It wouldn’t take too long for the Mariners to get that run back. Garrett Crochet was pulled after three innings as Chicago keeps an eye on his innings in the lefty’s first year as a starter. Chad Kuhl took over as the veteran tried to keep the White Sox in the game. The sixth double of the season for Victor Robles would be how Kuhl’s outing got under way. After a walk for Randy Arozarena, Cal Raleigh sent a line drive the other way into left field for a base hit. Robles scored, giving Cal three RBI on the day and extending the Seattle lead to 6-1. The M’s couldn’t extend it anymore as Polanco, Garver, and Moore were all retired but a five-run lead against the Chicago ace still had Seattle in a great spot.

Only one batter reached for the White Sox in the 4th thru 6th innings as Bryce Miller lived in the strike zone against the Chicago lineup. Miller showed no fear of any bat for the White Sox. A one-out double by Andrew Benintendi in the bottom of the 7th was the second extra base hit for the White Sox. Paul DeJong followed that with their third extra base hit and first home run of the series. DeJong’s 18th home run of the season chased Bryce Miller after 6 1/3 innings in which he allowed three runs on seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Austin Voth came in and retired the two batters he faced, but the game was much closer with the Mariners leading 6-3.

For the second time in as many days, Yimi García pitched a clean 1-2-3 inning, only needing seven pitches this time to get the game to the 9th. Andrés Muñoz would be tasked with getting the final three outs for the sweep and got a groundout of Gavin Sheets and a fly out of Eloy Jiménez for two outs. After walking Andrew Benintendi, Muñoz finished off the sweep as Paul DeJong lined out to Arozarena in left for the final out. A big bounce back series gave the Mariners some positive energy as they swept the White Sox with a 6-3 win in the finale.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Cal Raleigh- 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, R
• Randy Arozarena- 2-4, R, BB
• Bryce Miller (W, 8-7)- 6.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO

White Sox

• Paul DeJong- 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Tommy Pham- 1-4, RBI
• Garrett Crochet (L, 6-8)- 3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

What’s Next

With the sweep, the Seattle Mariners move to 56-51 with just a couple of days before the trade deadline on Tuesday at 3pm PST. While the Mariners broke out the brooms, Houston took two out of three at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers while the Texas Rangers were swept by the Toronto Blue Jays. That means that the Mariners and Astros are now tied atop the AL West with the Astros holding the lead by mere percentage points while the Rangers sit 4 1/2 back. Houston will remain at home for three more interleague games as they host the upstart Pittsburgh Pirates while Texas travels to St. Louis for three games against the contending Cardinals.

Seattle will finish up their six-game road trip with three games against another contending team in the Boston Red Sox. While Boston (55-49) got themselves back in the mix in the AL East, the Red Sox have struggled since the break. Boston has yet to win a series in the second half after being swept by the Dodgers and losing two out of three to both the Rockies and Yankees. The rotation has been the backbone of the Red Sox this season, but their ERA since the break is a whopping 5.77. A struggling pitching staff gives the Mariners an opportunity to keep building momentum before a tricky month of August.

Instead of the obvious choice of Rafael Devers, the spotlight will be on All-Star Game MVP Jarren Duran. The speedy center fielder is in the middle of his second full season in the big leagues and looks to be a centerpiece of the future of the Red Sox. With a career high in hits already with 127, Durran can use speed and power to beat up on opposing pitching. With 31 doubles, 12 triples, and 13 home runs this season, Durran boasts an impressive line of .289/.349/.503. Add in tremendous range in the outfield and 22 stolen bases, Mariner pitching has to keep this guy off the base paths this series. If he can set the table for a guy like Rafael Devers, the Mariners could be in for some shootouts with a struggling Boston pitching staff.

• Game 1, Monday 4:10pm- Logan Gilbert (6-6, 2.72 ERA) vs. Nick Pivetta (4-7, 4.50 ERA)
• Game 2, Tuesday 4:10pm- Luis Castillo (8-10, 3.38 ERA) vs. James Paxton (8-2, 4.43 ERA)
• Game 3, Wednesday 1:10pm- George Kirby (8-7, 3.03 ERA) vs. Brayan Bello (10-5, 5.27 ERA)

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