Inside The Mariners

Seattle Mariners Early Offense, Solid Pitching Leads to Win Against New York Yankees

The Seattle Mariners avoided a series sweep and closed out a nine-game homestead with a winning record after a 3-2 win against the New York Yankees on Thursday.

Teren Kowatsch

Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford hits an RBI single during a game against the New York Yankees on Thursday at T-Mobile Park.
Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford hits an RBI single during a game against the New York Yankees on Thursday at T-Mobile Park. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
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SEATTLE — Going into Thursday's series finale, the Seattle Mariners hadn't led at any point in two prior games against the New York Yankees and failed to score more than twice in either contest.

The Mariners bucked both trends and put up three runs in the first inning en route to a 3-2 win over the Yankees. The win gave Seattle a 5-4 record in its nine-game homestead — its last multi-series home stretch of the season. The victory also bolstered the Mariners record to 78-75 and brought them to within 4.5 games of the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West. They were also 2.0 games behind the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins for the final AL Wild Card spot after Thursday's triumph.

"Another one-run game — no shock there," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said in a postgame interview Thursday. "I thought today was (an) outstanding rebound, as we've seen before. Three runs in the first — huge. Getting the bases loaded there and being able to push three across early. ... A great win this afternoon and one we needed."

The Mariners started the game off strong. Starting pitcher Logan Gilbert got out of a two-on, two-out jam in the top of the first and recorded his 199th and 200th strikeouts of the season in the process.

Seattle awarded Gilbert's effort by loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the first inning. Julio Rodriguez scored the first run off a fly ball hit by Justin Turner that was dropped in left field by New York left fielder Jasson Dominguez. Jorge Polanco then brought in Randy Arozarena on an RBI sacrifice fly and JP Crawford capped off the inning with an RBI single.

That one inning accounted for all of the Mariners' offense and gave them a 3-0 lead.

Seattle avoided another potential opposing score when Luke Raley (who also went 2-for-3 on the day) uncorked a laser from right field in the top of the second to get Dominguez out at home for the final out of the inning.

But the Yankees offense didn't stay subdued. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run, 389-foot homer to right field in the top of the third to bring New York within one score. Chisholm Jr.'s home run resulted in the eventual final of 3-2.

The two offenses had many chances throughout the game to light up the scoreboard more than what they did. The two teams left 19 runners stranded in total (Mariners 11, Yankees eight) and went a combined 3-for-20 (Seattle 2-for-8, New York 1-for-12) with runners in scoring position.

Neither starter went through six innings. Gilbert was pulled pitching 5.1 innings. He allowed two runs (both earned) on six hits to go with nine strikeouts. New York starter Clarke Schmidt's day was done after 5.0 innings pitched. He allowed three runs (one earned) off six hits, walked three batters, hit another and struck out seven.

Gilbert was bumped up in the rotation earlier in the week so he could close out the homestead. He proved that decision was the right one.

"I felt like it was a big game, big series obviously," Gilbert said in a postgame interview Thursday. "Good team over there and every game matters a ton for us. We really needed to win today, just try to give us a chance. I feel like the whole team played really well on both sides of the ball. So (that) helped out. ... I think it was good and showed a lot trying to battle and get out of jams with runners on. Honestly, most of the season I feel like I've pitched out of the wind-up most of the game. And if guys get on, maybe I made a mistake late in the game when I finally get in the stretch and a runner finally gets on. But this game was kind of the opposite where I felt like it was good for me to show — runners on base most innings, finding a way to get out of it and strand runners. ... That stuff matters a lot."

The Mariners bullpen was tasked with preserving the lead and the win. Relievers JT Chargois, Troy Taylor, Trent Thornton and Andres Munoz combined to pitch 3.2 innings, struck out four and faced just one more batter than the minimum after Taylor walked Juan Soto in the top of the seventh.

Munoz put a nice bow on the game and struck out the side in order in the top of the ninth. He earned his 22nd save of the season.

Seattle has nine games left this year: two road series against the Texas Rangers and the Astros and its final home series of the season against the Oakland Athletics from Sept. 27-29. The Mariners won't receive a day off on Friday and will play all six of their road games in succession.

Seattle had a 5.7% of making the playoffs after its win according to FanGraphs. And there's a chance, a very real one, that the Mariners' postseason will once again come down to the final series of the year.

It's extremely unlikely. But there's a chance for the Mariners. And that might be all they need.

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WILSON SPEAKS FURTHER ABOUT RODRIGUEZ'S BASE-RUNNING SNAFU: Seattle Mariners manager Dan Wilson spoke before a series finale against the New York Yankees on Thursday about franchise cornerstone Julio Rodriguez's critical base running error from Game 2 of the series. CLICK HERE

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Teren Kowatsch

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