Philadelphia Phillies Shut Out Seattle Mariners In Series Finale
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners had a good series up until Sunday. They won the first two against one of the best teams in baseball — the Philadelphia Phillies — and regained sole possession of first-place in the American League West.
But Philadelphia wasn't content leaving Seattle without a win and shut out the Mariners 6-0 on Sunday. The loss dropped Seattle to 59-54 this season.
The Phillies wasted no time getting things started and Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run three pitches into the game.
And that was about it for a while.
Aside from a couple amazing catches from Victor Robles in the top of the seventh, neither team had many highlights aside from a stellar pitching battle.
Victor Robles is out here putting on a show 🙅♂️ pic.twitter.com/efgVtDrqUi
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 4, 2024
Mariners starter Logan Gilbert and Phillies starter Zack Wheeler pitched great games (except for Gilbert's one home run). Gilbert went six innings, struck out seven batters and allowed one earned run. Wheeler got through eight, allowed just two hits and struck out nine.
"Had a feeling going into that game that pitching was going to dominate — and it certainly did," Mariners manager Scott Servais said in a postgame interview Sunday. "I thought Logan was outstanding against a really good lineup — deep lineup. Team with a lot of power. ... Unfortunately we were teamed up against Wheeler today. And as advertised — he's really good."
Logan Gilbert's 3Ks in the 1st. pic.twitter.com/IuAYtctPVr
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 4, 2024
The game started to snowball for Seattle in the top of the eighth. Bryson Stott had a solo home run to make it 2-0, Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer and Alec Bohm hit Philadelphia's third and final long ball of the inning — a one-run shot to left field.
JT Realmuto wrapped up the eighth with an RBI single to make the Phillies' lead 6-0.
Seattle went through three relievers in the inning — Yimi Garcia, Tayler Saucedo and Trent Thornton. They combined to give up three home runs, five hits and five earned runs. Saucedo allowed three hits, three earned runs and two homers in 0.0 innings pitched.
"We had to see where we were at there," Servais said. "Obviously — Yimi Garcia in a tight game today. Wanted to try keep it there. He threw a lot of pitches last night, as well. But the matchup — (Saucedo) was able to get Harper out (Saturday) on a pop-up. ... (Saucedo) will continue to pitch for us. We just got to back into what he does really well."
The rest of the game was routine.
The Mariners only had six outs to work with and six runs to make up. They went down in order in the bottom of the eighth. Cade Marlowe hit a lead-off single in the bottom of the ninth and Randy Arozarena got on-base on a force out. But Philadelphia was able to keep the shutout intact.
This was a successful series overall for Seattle. It grabbed two-of-three games against a legitimate World Series contender and the toughest of the three teams it'll face during its homestead (the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets being the other two).
The Mariners have a 1.0 game lead in the AL West. If they show up for the next two home series like they did against the Phillies — that lead will likely grow.
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