Mariners Weekly Update
From snow coating Coors Field in a blanket of white to fan interference sending a game to the 10th inning, the past week in Mariners land has seen it all. The week began with a 45-pitched first inning for Frankie Montas, which started a trend of patient at-bats and success at the plate. This game saw a quality start, with George Kirby meeting the background as the bats broke out in fashion. Jorge Polanco was at the forefront as his first-inning 3-run homer to right field set the train on its way. The bombardment continued in the 3rd inning as Mitch Haniger sent a ball into the Mariners bullpen in left field and brought the lead to 5-1. After the Haniger homer, Seattle never turned back as newly called-up prospect Jonatan Clase drove in Ty France for his first RBI and hit in the big leagues. Clase brought a much-needed spark and jolt of speed to the Mariners lineup, as he would bring chaos all week. Following the Clase RBI single, Seattle would eventually score three more, leading to a 9-3 victory in front of a measly April crowd at T-Mobile Park.
Clase pictured at Mariners media day
On Tuesday, the Mariners faced off against Reds ace Hunter Greene, who was off to a brilliant season start. After forcing Montas out of the game with no outs in the 3rd inning of Monday's game, the Mariners continued on their trend of knocking out the opposing starter early when they forced Greene out of the game after only four innings. A starter whom many expected the Mariners to significantly struggle against, a 4-inning start in which Greene walked 3, gave up four hits, and gave up an earned run showed signs of life within the Mariners lineup for the second night running. Jonatan Clase continued to shine with an RBI double off Greene in the 4th for his first extra-base hit. Logan Gilbert’s 6.2 innings of 1 run ball, paired with clutch defensive play from the dormant star of Julio Rodriguez, led the Mariners to an impressive 3-1 victory, with Taylor Saucedo picking up his first save of the year.
Logan Gilbert on the mound in 2021 for the Mariners
A Wednesday matinee full of homers above Edgar’s Cantina down the left-field line brought out brooms for the Mariners. Following a 2nd inning homer for Reds star Elly De La Cruz, Cal Raleigh sent a fastball on the inner half from southpaw Andrew Abbott out above Edgar’s down the left field line. This Bug Dumper deposit tied the game at 1, and the game was handed over to Bryce Miller. Miller was more than up to the task as he wouldn’t give up another hit, striking out seven over 6.0 innings. Milner handed the game to Trent Thornton with a 2-1 lead after Mitch Garver hit his first Mariners homer off the second deck in left field. The Mariners bullpen would be lights out during the 7,8, and 9th innings, leading to a 5-1 Mariners win.
Following the series sweep of Cincinnati, the Mariners flew to Denver for a three-game series starting Friday. Unfortunately, snow gracefully danced through the cold Denver sky, painting the baseball diamond back to a blank canvas. This blank canvas gave the Mariners a second day off in a row, which they used to their advantage, hitting in the cages beneath the blanket of white.Â
Coors field worker shoveling snow off the field Friday
The Mariners eventually cleared the snow, replacing it with The Rock. La Piedra took the mound for the Mariners and shoved. Castillo threw seven scoreless innings, giving up just three baserunners and striking out 9, leading the Mariners to a 7-0 victory. Cal Raleigh was the star in the Mariners lineup, going 4-4 with a solo home run in the 2nd inning and an RBI single scoring Julio in the 3rd. Julio Rodriguez also finally had a massive day at the plate, going 4-5 with 2 RBI and 2 stolen bases. However, Rodriguez was still searching for his first home run in 2024. Jonatan Clase would continue his much-needed spark as he would have his first 2-hit game of his career. In the 5th inning, Clase roped a ball at 95.3 mph through the right side that would sneak through right fielder Sean Bouchard’s legs. Three runs would be scored on the single as Clase flew around the diamond. Clase was thrown out at the plate on a perfect relay throw by Alan Trejo.Â
A 4th win in a row sent the Mariners into a Sunday doubleheader in which a sweep would, at worst, send the Mariners 0.5 games clear at the top of the AL West. Unfortunately, this sweep would not come true, as the Mariners would lose game one 2-1 in 10 innings. A questionable fan interference call that denied the Rockies of a walk-off home run in the 9th was not enough as Andres Muñoz gave up two runs in the bottom of the 10th, erasing a game of elite pitching performance. George Kirby started the game for the Mariners, throwing five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, one walk, and five hits. Kirby was followed by Trent Thornton and Gabe Speier, who each threw a scoreless inning. After Thornton and Speier, it was up to Ryne Stanek, who would throw two scoreless frames and send the game to extra innings. Julio Rodriguez had another two-hit game with two singles. The Mariners bats combined for six hits and six walks in 10 innings while leaving ten runners on base en route to one run over ten innings at Coors Field, where runs tend to flock like geese.
Jonotan Clase celebrating with his teammates in the cold Colorado air
Following a tough loss in game one of the doubleheader, Seattle headed into game two with a lineup in shreds as the Mitches were both given the game off. In the second inning, after Emerson Hancock gave up a pair of runs in the 1st, the Mariners bats finally exploded. This explosion racked up a quick six runs. The capper of this explosion was a ball driven off the top of the wall in right-center for a bases-clearing, three RBI triple by J.P. Crawford. They would add more in the 6th when a now-hot Julio Rodriguez dribbled a changeup through the right side for an RBI single and a 2-run dead-center dump by Big Dumper, extending the lead to 9-2. Hancock would get another quality start as he threw five scoreless innings following the 1st for a final line of 6.0 innings, four hits, two runs (one earned), one walk, and four strikeouts. Hancock continued his solid start to the season and was the Mariners' number 5 starter. The Mariners won the series and brought their record to 11-11, 0.5 games back of Texas for first place in the division with a three-game set with the World Series champions on deck.Â