Mariners bats remain chilled to the core, dropping second straight to Guardians
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The early season issues persist for our Mariners, as again their bats went cold just like the air in Seattle. Starting pitcher Logan Gilbert was solid in his six-inning outing, allowing only a solo homer to Josh Naylor in the fourth inning. Six-innings of one run ball should be good enough to win you many games in Major League Baseball, but the Seattle hitters continue to struggle against Cleveland’s quality pitching through this first series of the year. Like last season, the Mariners bats struggling is becoming an issue.
Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor points to the sky following his solo homer (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Logan Gilbert has solid outing, with one exception
Seattle starting pitcher Logan Gilbert was about as solid as you could ask for in his first outing of the 2023 season, going six-innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts. That one-run came on a solo homer by Cleveland first baseman Josh Naylor in the fourth inning, taking Gilbert deep on a slider that ended up right in the middle of the plate. That was the lone area of issue for Gilbert, or “Walter” if you go by his pitching alter ego, as he avoided any further damage the rest of the way.
“Yeah, I felt pretty good out there. Felt like everything was getting synced up. And I feel like since spring training been working a couple of things out and I think each start I was getting a little more comfortable. And now being here, just trying to find a way to mix it up and use all the pitches. Felt pretty good tonight.”
“Yeah, that one to Naylor. Yeah, I think I was one over there. I like the call. Just left it up a little bit. It’s balance. You want to be aggressive, but obviously that’s not the spot to go to. Slider felt good overall tonight. Just make sure the handout is out front and I get it to a good spot and every once in a while when it stays up or arm side might not be getting all the way out there. It’s frustrating, though.”
“Yeah, I think I didn’t throw any until the last inning there, and then I threw a handful, probably at least five there in the last inning. And it felt really good. Just didn’t go to it early. I felt like I had a high workload with the splitter in spring training, and I’m trying to be cognizant of that and not weary, but back off in between starts and stuff like that, and then wanted to make sure I felt fine today and did. And then when we eventually went to it, it worked pretty well tonight.”
Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert warms up prior to the game beginning (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Bats remain chilled for Seattle
Seattle’s offense was essentially Julio Rodriguez, as the 2022 AL Rookie of the year had two of the Mariners three total hits on the night. On his bobblehead night, Julio was able to single twice in the game, leading off the first inning and getting his second knock in the third. That third hit came from designated hitter Tommy La Stella, who sliced a double into the right field corner in the eighth inning, later followed up by a JP Crawford walk out Cal Raleigh struck out. With runners on first and second, Julio Rodriguez came to the plate with two outs and the background noise of a raucous T-Mobile Park, attempting to cheer their superstar on. Rodriguez struck out, and Seattle’s spark was snuffed out before it could truly ignite.
Seattle second baseman Kolten Wong tries to leg out a base hit (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
About those bad habits...
I want to continue to preach caution and pause for a second, considering that we are now only three games into this 2023 season, playing against a Cleveland Guardians team that should challenge for the AL Central title. But it is fair to be frustrated with the lack of offense displayed by the Mariners so far. On Opening Day, Seattle’s runs all came on Ty France’s three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning, as the team had stranded runners in scoring position throughout the course of the game. In game two, Seattle did well offensively, scoring four runs off seven hits, and spreading the knocks out through the game. In this game, three hits is just unacceptable if you want to be taken seriously, let alone win games.
Stranding runners in scoring position and failing to get the bats clicking is something that Seattle dealt with all last season and had many wondering if coaching changes were needed. Again, don’t overreact just yet, because Cleveland has some good pitching, but it’s fair to be frustrated. This is something that should get better as the year goes on, but if it doesn’t, the Mariners will be in trouble.
Quick notes
Logan Gilbert threw 6.0 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run (1 earned run), 1 walk, and 7 strikeouts.
He threw 85 pitches, 64 strikes.
Tonight was his 57th start for the Mariners.
In five April starts in his career, Gilbert has a 0.64 ERA (2 ER, 28.1 IP).
Tommy La Stella recorded his first hit for the Mariners during the bottom of the eighth inning.
Sam Haggerty pinch ran for La Stella, making his season debut.
Julio Rodríguez went 2 for 4 in tonight’s game.
Rodríguez’s single in the bottom of the fourth was his second hit of the game, giving him back-to-back multi-hit games.
He recorded his first stolen base of the season in the first inning.
Catcher Tom Murphy made his season debut tonight.
He batted .303 across 14 games in the 2022 season.
Mariners bullpen Diego Castillo, Gabe Speier, and Matt Festa combined for 3.0 innings, 1 hit, 1 run (1 earned run), 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts.
Speier made his Mariners debut after being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma earlier today.
Mariners pitcher Diego Castillo threw an inning of relief, allowing a solo homer to Cleveland’s Andres Gimenez (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
What’s next?
The Mariners finish up this series against Cleveland with game four of the series tomorrow, Sunday April 2nd. In their first day game and Sunday game of the season, Seattle is hosting “kids opening day” as all kids 14 and under will receive a Luis Castillo shirt-jersey, fondly named a shirsey. It’s also Seattle Kraken Day, as those who purchased tickets under the Mariners “Theme and promotion nights” tab on their website will redeem a limited-edition Mariners/Kraken themed shirt. First pitch for the game itself is at 1:10PM PST as Marco Gonzales takes the mound for Seattle, facing off against Cleveland’s Cal Quantrill.