8/28/24

(Seattle, WA) Dan Wilson’s tenure as the manager of the Seattle Mariners started off on a high note after the team took two out of three over the San Francisco Giants. With still a month left in the season, the Mariners still have an uphill battle to get back into a playoff spot. With the division just 4 1/2 games out of reach, Seattle would need to take care of business while Houston did battle with Philadelphia in a 2022 World Series rematch.

For Seattle, it would be a three-game series against another team hovering around .500 as the Tampa Bay Rays came to town as they also tried to battle back into the playoff race. Of course the series also pitted some players against their former teams since the M’s and Rays have become such good trade partners in recent years. Jose Caballero would make his return to Seattle for the first time as a Ray while Luke Raley would face his former team. The series was a bit more emotional for Randy Arozarena who would face the team he spent the first four seasons of his career with for the first time since being traded at the deadline a month ago.

Mariners 5, Rays 1 (Game 1, August 26th)

Monday’s opener of the three-game series pitted a couple of strong young starters. Ryan Pepiot would take the ball for Tampa Bay in game one in his third start since an IL stint in July. For Seattle, Bryce Miller got the start on the heels of an incredible three-game stretch.

Both starters enjoyed an easy 1st but neither were as fortunate in the 2nd. After getting Christopher Morel to fly out, Miller threw a 3-1 fastball in the middle of the plate. Josh Lowe was all over it and crushed his eighth home run of the season to right. The solo blast put Tampa Bay up 1-0 but Seattle responded. In the home half, Jorge Polanco turned on a fastball on the inner third and hit a 110-mph line drive down the right field line. The ball hit the base of the foul pole for a solo shot and Polanco’s 13th home run of the season. The dueling home runs had evened the score at 1-1 thru two innings.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Pepiot got a couple of quick outs before some wacky and wild antics helped out the Mariners. First, Julio Rodríguez sent what looked to be the third out down to Jose Caballero at third. The grounder went right between the legs of the former Mariner, extending the inning on the error. Then, Cal Raleigh hit a grounder off the very end of his bat towards third. After starting in foul territory, the ball spun back fair and hit third base for an infield single for the Mariner catcher. On the very next pitch, Randy Arozarena made it all pay off. Arozarena drove his first homer as a Mariner in T-Mobile Park out to right field for a three-run shot. Arozarena’s 17th home run of the season came in his first game against his former team and put Seattle up 4-1.

Another insurance run came an inning later for one of the few consistent hitters for the Mariners in the second half. Josh Rojas laced his 17th double of the season to right field with one out to continue his nice day at the plate. He moved up to third on a groundout by Dominic Canzone and with two outs Leo Rivas came to the plate. Once again Rivas came through thanks to his great two-strike approach. Choking way up on the bat, Rivas sent a 2-2 cutter into right field for a base hit. Rojas trotted home on the clutch Rivas hit as Seattle extended the lead to 5-1.

Five runs would be more than enough for Bryce Miller. The young righty continued his incredible stretch as he finally got some run support. Josh Lowe went 2-3 against Miller while the rest of the Rays lineup went 0-20 against the young right-hander. Miller cruised through seven innings, allowing just one run on two hits with no walks allowed while striking out ten. Utilizing his new splitter more and more, Miller is starting to really work that pitch and his fastball together to dominate every lineup he comes across.

Austin Voth worked a quick 1-2-3 8th and set the table for Trent Thornton to finish things off in the 9th. He would strikeout both Taylor Walls and Dylan Carlson for a quick two outs. Brandon Lowe would be the last chance for Tampa Bay, but there was no late rally for the Rays. Thornton got him to pop out to Polanco at second for the third out. Seattle finally got the extra base hits that they had been looking for and used them to earn a 5-1 win.

Notable Performances

Rays

Mariners

• Bryce Miller (W, 10-7)- 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO
• Randy Arozarena- 1-3, HR, 3 RBI, R, HBP
• Jorge Polanco- 1-4, HR, RBI, R

Rays 3, Mariners 2 (Game 2, August 27th)

In the middle game of the series, another great pitching matchup was on tap. Tampa Bay’s Jeffrey Springs would get the start for the Rays as he continues to build his arm back up coming off of Tommy John surgery last year. For Seattle, All-Star Logan Gilbert would try to keep the Rays bats quiet and wrap up the series win a little early for the Mariners.

There would not be much offense in the first half of the ballgame. Only one runner reached second base in the first five innings and it was on a two-out double by Jonny DeLuca in the 5th. He was left stranded when Logan Gilbert struck out Jose Siri. Seattle mustered just one hit against Jeffrey Springs before he left after five innings. Logan Gilbert would give up a couple of singles in the 6th, but struck out Josh Lowe and Christopher Morel to end his day after six scoreless innings. The pitchers combined for 19 strikeouts and the bullpens would take over for the end of the game.

In the first inning not pitched by Jeffrey Springs, Seattle would get on the board. Edwin Uceta would give up a one-out single to Victor Robles, but bounced back by striking out Julio Rodríguez for the second out. Victor Robles swiped second just before Cal Raleigh drew a walk. Robles would then look to steal third with Randy Arozarena at the plate. The throw to third by former Mariner prospect Alex Jackson went into left field. Robles then trotted home to score on the error, giving Seattle a 1-0 lead.

Just like Tampa Bay’s bullpen, Seattle’s bullpen couldn’t keep the Rays off the board in the 7th. JT Chargois retired the first two batters he faced before giving up a single to Jonny DeLuca to keep the inning alive. That brought Jose Siri to the plate and his all or nothing approach to hitting paid off this time around. Siri drove a slider at the bottom of the zone out to center field for his 17th home run of the season. The two-run blast gave Tampa Bay the late lead, 2-1.

Yandy Díaz added to the Rays lead with his 11th homer of the year to begin the 8th. With a 3-1 deficit, Seattle put together an 8th inning rally against Garrett Cleavinger. Leo Rivas walked and Victor Robles reached on a bunt single to put men at first and second with one out. Julio couldn’t come through as he struck out for the second out of the inning. Cal Raleigh on the other hand did clutch up with a base hit to center. Rivas scored from second while Robles held up at second with the score now 3-2. Kevin Kelly would come in for the Rays and put a stop to the Mariner comeback. Kelly struck out Randy Arozarena to end the inning before Manuel Rodríguez got the final three outs in the 9th. Another tight game this time did not go the Mariners way as they dropped game two, 3-2.

Notable Performances

Rays

Mariners

• Logan Gilbert (ND)- 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO
• Victor Robles- 2-4, R, 2 SB
• Cal Raleigh- 1-3, RBI, BB

Mariners 6, Rays 2 (Game 3, August 28th)

For the second consecutive series, the Mariners played a rubber game in the finale of the three-game set. Luis Castillo would hope to duplicate those results from Sunday as he took on a bullpen day for Tampa Bay.

Luis Castillo pitched around a triple in the 1st by Junior Caminero but the one thing a pitcher can’t pitch around is a home run. That came in the top of the 2nd from a guy that dealt plenty of damage in the series. Josh Lowe belted a solo shot to begin the inning for his ninth homer of the season and second of the series. The long ball hurt La Piedra again as Tampa Bay took the initial 1-0 lead.

Just like in game one, Seattle had an immediate response. In the bottom of the 2nd, Randy Arozarena reached on a swinging bunt and moved up to second on an errant throw by opener Drew Rasmussen. Arozarena’s speed paid off when he moved up to third on a sacrifice fly to left by Jorge Polanco. Luke Raley hit another fly ball to left that was deep enough to score the former Ray and even things up at 1-1.

Luis Castillo really settled in after that as he retired nine of the next ten batters he faced. In the bottom of the 5th, a two-out rally catapulted the Mariners out in front. Dylan Moore recorded his 20th double of the season with one out but remained on second after Mitch Garver went down on strikes. With a 2-2 count on Victor Robles, Tyler Alexander actually got the speedy right fielder to chase a pitch well above the zone. Robles was able to get the barrel on it and launched it out to left field for his fourth home run of the season, making it 3-1. After the returning J.P. Crawford drew a walk to keep the inning alive, Julio Rodríguez got the barrel to a cutter on the inner black of the plate. J-Rod admired his 12th home run of the season as it sailed out to left. The two two-out two-run homers put Seattle in a great spot, leading 5-1.

La Piedra couldn’t work past the 6th as he ran into some trouble. Singles by Brandon Lowe and Christopher Morel got Tampa Bay going but with two outs there was no room for error. Dylan Carlson snuck a grounder into center field for his clutch base hit. Lowe scored to make it 5-2 and bring the tying run to the plate. That would be it for Luis Castillo as Austin Voth entered for the final out of the 6th. Jose Caballero hit a pop up to Dylan Moore at third in foul territory to end the inning and escape the jam with the Mariners lead still intact, 5-2.

Seattle got that run back in the bottom of the 8th on Randy Arozarena’s 18th home run of the season. With a 6-2 lead entering the 9th, Andrés Muñoz would get his only work in the series. It wasn’t much work. Muñoz struck out Josh Lowe and Dylan Carlson on nine pitches before getting Jose Caballero to popout to Polanco at second. A quick and easy 9th inning earned the Mariners a 4-2 homestand and a second consecutive series win as the M’s took the finale 6-2.

Notable Performances

Rays

Mariners

• Randy Arozarena- 3-4, HR, RBI, 2 R
• Victor Robles- 2-3, HR, 2 RBI, R
• Luis Castillo (W, 11-12)- 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO

What’s Next

A successful homestand was definitely needed for the Seattle Mariners as they took both series against the Giants and Rays. Seattle (68-66) made up a game as Houston dropped two of three in Philadelphia. In the Wild Card, Kansas City took three of four from Cleveland to get back in the AL Central race while Minnesota was swept by Atlanta. Seattle now sits 3 1/2 games behind Houston in the AL West and 4 1/2 behind Minnesota for the final Wild Card spot. Kansas City has pulled to seven games up on Seattle for the second Wild Card. Seattle has a massive opportunity this weekend as Kansas City and Houston play each other in a four-game series in Houston while Minnesota will host Toronto for three.

Now the Mariners can’t overlook anybody down the stretch and especially not the Los Angeles Angels. After Seattle beat the Angels in the team’s first four meetings, they have since lost six straight against their division rivals, including being swept by them back in July. Los Angeles is currently in a slump, as they have lost seven consecutive games and are currently playing as of writing this article. Since August 9th, Los Angeles have a record of 3-15 as they have fallen way down to fourth in the AL West. Both Luis Rengifo and José Soriano will be out this series as Rengifo is done for the year and Soriano is out with right arm fatigue.

Zach Neto will be our player spotlight for this series. While he has cooled off since his blistering start to the second half, Neto continues to produce offensively for the Halos. On Thursday, Neto became just the second shortstop in franchise history to join the 20/20 club with 20 homers and 20 stolen bases. With the offense struggling Neto seems to have more put on his shoulders to get the offense going. Los Angeles does have confidence facing Mariner pitching, but Neto has only hit .241 against the M’s this season. Guys like Jo Adell and Taylor Ward can still hurt the M’s but the Mariners need to keep one of those three bats quiet if they want to find success this weekend.

• Game 1, Friday 6:38pm (Apple TV+)- George Kirby (9-10, 3.48 ERA) vs. Samuel Aldegheri (MLB Debut)
• Game 2, Saturday 6:38pm- Bryan Woo (6-2, 2.05 ERA) vs. Tyler Anderson (10-12, 3.41 ERA)
• Game 3, Sunday 1:07pm- Bryce Miller (10-7, 3.23 ERA) vs. Caden Dana (MLB Debut)

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