3 Up, 3 Down: Stars Help Mariners Close Out Series Victory Over Athletics

Thanks to a pair of big names, the Mariners squeaked out a 2-1 win over the Athletics to claim their fourth consecutive series. Ty Dane Gonzalez recaps the three best and worst performances.

Ty Dane Gonzalez | Jul 3, 2022

3 Up, 3 Down: Stars Help Mariners Close Out Series Victory Over Athletics /

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For the second time this season, the Mariners have rattled off four series victories in a row after downing the Athletics in a 2-1 win on Sunday.

Despite Oakland starter Frankie Montas having to exit with an apparent injury following the first inning, offense was sparse for Seattle. The bats scraped together just five hits and failed to walk while striking out a whopping 10 times, thanks in part to a strong relief appearance by A's right-hander Austin Pruitt.

The Mariners were fortunate their morsel of production proved enough to come out of the afternoon with a win. Now, they'll head down to San Diego for a quick two-game road series with the Padres before returning back to the Pacific Northwest.

But first, let's go over the three best and worst individual performances from Seattle's successful day at T-Mobile Park.

3 Up

LHP Robbie Ray

Ray was downright filthy at times on Sunday, leading the game with 27 swings and misses and a called strike plus whiff rate of 37 percent. On his way to collecting a season-high 12 strikeouts, the southpaw threw his slider 51 times out of 107 pitches and missed 11 bats with it. He kept the A's off the board through 6.2 innings pitched before shortstop Elvis Andrus continued his tear at T-Mobile Park and deposited a four-seam fastball over the wall in left-center field. That ended Ray's afternoon and snapped his scoreless streak of 19.0 innings, but he did more than enough to put the Mariners in position to win and they happily obliged.

A dozen punchies for @RobbieRay 👊

6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 12 K pic.twitter.com/2XSFHeUX4c
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 3, 2022

3B Eugenio Suárez

After an 0-fer on Saturday afternoon, Suárez put together his second two-hit game of the series. Checking in with a pair of singles, he was the only Mariners hitter not named Julio Rodríguez to reach base more than once.

CF Julio Rodríguez

Fresh off his second consecutive American League Rookie of the Month award, Rodríguez began his afternoon by obliterating the first pitch he saw off the scoreboard in Edgar's Cantina. The solo home run traveled 390 feet at an exit velocity of 106.9 MPH and that wasn't even the hardest hit ball—nor the second—he recorded on the afternoon. During his third and final at-bat of the game, Rodríguez scorched a double into the left-center field gap that easily scored shortstop Dylan Moore from first. The ball registered an eye-popping exit velo of 112.4 MPH and proved too much for A's centerfielder Skye Bolt to catch up to. Oh, and the other time he made contact? He grounded out, but ripped the ball at an exit velo of 110.6 MPH to Andrus in the bottom of the third. So yeah, the 21-year old rookie was seeing the ball pretty well. The only knock on his day was a botched steal attempt following his double, though he would have been successful had he held on to the base. He's human, even though it doesn't seem like it sometimes.

.@JRODshow44 wasted zero time. #SeaUsRise pic.twitter.com/7V6juFMCpe
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) July 3, 2022

3 Down

1B Carlos Santana

It would be difficult to have a worse day than Santana did at the plate on Sunday. In his three at-bats, he struck out once and grounded into a pair of double plays. He's now 3 for 19 since joining the Mariners.

LF Jesse Winker

Set to begin serving his six-game suspension on Monday, Winker struck out in all three of his at-bats. That's not how you want to head into a short hiatus.