Mariners Walk Off Twins, Keep Momentum Alive Ahead of Trade Deadline
With the trade deadline just two days away, the Seattle Mariners’ season seemingly hinged on Saturday's game against the Minnesota Twins. With the contest tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Cal Raleigh delivered on an unconventional fielder’s choice, driving home the winning run in walk-off fashion.
Seattle has struggled to put teams away all season, and that trend continued during the second game of the series. The Mariners scored three runs across the first two innings but were held scoreless the rest of the way until the ninth. This allowed the Twins to claw their way back, ultimately tying it up in the seventh inning.
The Mariners need to start stacking wins to make the playoffs, and Saturday's victory showed how they can do that. Here are some takeaways from an exciting, much-needed win:
Offense Showed Up Early, Then Late
Facing Twins starter Connor Prielipp, a lefty with overpowering stuff, Seattle needed to play its best to score. They decided to do that early. Cole Young doubled, while Randy Arozarena and Dominic Canzone both walked to load the bases.
Face of the franchise Julio Rodriguez was able to line a single off the shortstop’s glove, using his speed, and a bit of luck, to bring home Young for the first run of the game.
Seattle threatened to break the game open, but Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor both struck out, leaving the bases loaded, before Mitch Garver worked an 11-pitch walk to force home another run. Weston Wilson grounded out after four pitches, bringing the inning to 35 pitches and giving Seattle an ideal start to the game.
Prielipp seemed to settle down in the second inning, inducing a groundout and popup from the first two Mariner hitters. But Arozarena answered with a towering solo home run to left, pushing Seattle's lead to 3-0.
First baseman Josh Naylor led off the eighth with a loud single to center field. He stole second base as well. The steal increased his team-leading total to 22, a remarkable number considering his third-percentile sprint speed. Naylor continued to be a pest on the bases, taking third base on a play where Mitch Garver grounded out to the third baseman. Wilson again got out, however, halting another opportunity to take the lead.
As a team, Seattle walked eight times, while collecting seven hits, a surprisingly high amount considering the limited run production. They had their opportunities, but they just couldn’t capitalize, at least not until the ninth inning.
The Walk-Off
Needing to score, Arozarena hammered a double out to left field to get into scoring position. Canzone then flew out deep left, allowing Arozarena to tag up and slide into third base. Rodriguez was then intentionally walked to set the scene for Raleigh to be the hero of the day.
The Twins also brought right fielder Austin Martin into the infield as a fifth defender, hoping to induce a game-ending ground ball.
Reliever Andrew Morris was able to induce the hard-hit groundout that the Twins wanted. Their first baseman Royce Lewis quickly stepped on first for one out, then hesitated. He pump-faked second base, likely not accounting for Julio’s elite speed, then attempted to throw home.
Not one to be indecisive, Arozarena had taken off for home plate in the meantime, barely beating out the throw home for a cathartic walk-off victory for the club.
Cy Young Performance
Multiple Mariners starters have been the subject of trade rumors in recent weeks. One who hasn’t been is ace Logan Gilbert. On Saturday afternoon he was a workhorse, earning a quality start for his seven innings of work, strengthening his Cy Young candidacy.
The starter’s command was pinpoint, as 17 of 26 batters he faced saw first-pitch strikes. He had command of his full arsenal, earning 16 swings and misses on his fastball, slider, and splitter.
It wasn’t all easygoing at first as Gilbert took a 107-mph comebacker in the fourth inning that struck his right lower leg. The ball fortunately bounced to first baseman Josh Naylor for the easy out, but the Mariners fans in attendance collectively held their breath as their star was slow to get up. Gilbert was able to walk off the field under his own power, albeit with an obvious limp.
When asked where the baseball hit him, Gilbert stated that it hit “a little bone, a little muscle, a little everything.” He was able to stay in the game and work through the pain, as Seattle’s taxed bullpen needed him to.
It wasn’t a perfect day for the Mariners ace, as Luke Keaschall smoked a home run on a 95-mph fastball in the fifth inning. Trevor Larnach then launched a ball beyond the fence for another solo home run an inning later.
In the seventh inning, Lewis scorched a ball that bounced off third baseman Weston Wilson, whose struggles at the hot corner continued. Lewis was able to scamper to second base on the misplay, earning a double on the scorecard. He was able to score on another groundout to Wilson resulting from the defensive gaffe.
Defensive Highlights Galore
While Wilson may have had his issues with the glove, the rest of the Mariners’ defense picked up the slack. Wanting to help out his pitcher, Rodriguez made a great play going to his left in center field, jumping up and slamming into the wall in order to take away an extra base hit from shortstop Ryan Kriedler. Gilbert tipped his cap in appreciation.
In that same inning, Garver won a challenge on a full count to strike out Kody Clemons. Garver continues to excel using MLB's automated ball-strike challenge system as he ranks first in the American League with a 73% challenge success rate among catchers. The average overturn rate for reference is 58%.
The M’s catcher followed that by throwing out Keaschall attempting to steal, completing a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play.
Positive Manager Decisions
Manager Dan Wilson chose to pull lefty Gabe Speier after only securing two outs, opting to bring closer Andrés Muñoz in during the eighth inning with runners on first and second. This is notable because the M’s skipper has usually limited Muñoz to only pitching in the ninth.
The change in thought process was rewarded as Muñoz struck out Caratini on a nasty slider below the zone to keep the game knotted at three heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.
Muñoz then retired three more in the ninth to set up the walk-off.
Second Base Excellence Continues
The 22-year-old star Young continued his outstanding season. In the eighth inning, the dynamic second baseman stole a hit from Austin Martin during a tied game, getting to a ball hit up the middle and throwing across his body to nab the runner. Combined with his two hits on the day, he continues to push his AL-leading bWAR mark for second baseman even higher (3.8).
On Deck
Seattle will look to win the series on Sunday afternoon by sending recent trade-target George Kirby to the mound to face off against former top prospect Taj Bradley. They then have Monday off due to the MLB trade deadline before hosting what could be a reshaped Detroit Tigers club following Thursday's trade deadline.
