Steelheads’ ‘Sox’ knocked off in the final stretch; fall 4-3 to Chicago in extras
By Bel Garcia, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - The Seattle Mariners dressed in honorable fashion for today’s Salute to the Negro Leagues, a Juneteenth Celebration game, as they pulled their Seattle Steelheads uniforms out. The Mariners came into this contest with a 2-2 record when wearing their Steelheads uniform. T-Mobile Park was decorated with Salute to the Negro Leagues decals on several screens, and on the scoreboard were not the Mariners, but rather the Steelheads matching up against the White Sox. Local artist Shaina Shepherd kicked the game off singing Lift Every Voice and Sing ahead of the Star-Spangled Banner, while Mariners great Mike Cameron followed with the ceremonial first pitch and the day got started with Logan “Walter” Gilbert on the mound.
Seattle Steelheads shortstop JP Crawford hit a leadoff homer to get the game started (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Steelheads shortstop JP Crawford got things started the right way with a leadoff homerun, hitting the ball 383 feet and giving the Mariners the lead early. A role that Crawford has embraced and thrived in since being named leadoff hitter, he approaches the game with competitiveness and always gives full effort, working for him in today’s game as he snuck that homer in early. When wearing the Steelheads uniform, JP Crawford seems to find another gear, as each of the three games that he’s donned the jersey, JP has hit a homer (2021 - walk-off grand slam, today a solo homer) or had a solid game otherwise.
Seattle Steelheads first baseman Ty France extended his on-base streak to 13-games with a base hit (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Seattle first baseman Ty France, who went 2-for-4 and collected 1 double, 1 home run, and 2 RBI in the first game matchup against the White Sox in last night’s game has now reached base safely in 13 consecutive games. His first hit of the game was good enough for a single that set him up to score in the bottom of the first, further extending the Steelheads lead to a quick two runs.
Seattle Steelheads starting pitcher Logan Gilbert delivered 5.2 innings of 2-run ball (Photo by Liv Lyons)
After a strong first inning by Logan “Walter” Gilbert, things started to get a bit unfamiliar for Walter. In the top of the second inning, he gave up a home run to White Sox’s Eloy Jimenez on a slider. Jimenez sent the bomb 418 feet into center field to keep Chicago in the game and cut the deficit to one. The scoring was halted as both Gilbert and Chicago starter Lucas Giolito composed themselves for the next few innings. The matchup between the pitchers was very similar, even though we are used to seeing better numbers from Gilbert, their line at the end of this one was a lot closer than expected. Both pitchers gave up one more run in the fifth inning in what was still a close game. Gilbert’s time on the mound ended much earlier than we’re used to due to a somewhat off night, he ended the game with 5.1 IP, six hits, two runs (both earned), three walks, three strikeouts, and one homer against. Similarly, Giolito also pitched five innings, had eights hits against, three runs (two earned), three walks, five strikeouts, and one homer against. Seattle and Chicago then shuffled through their bullpen to help close it out in extra innings. Unfortunately for Seattle, the Chicago bullpen was able to pull this one out for the Sox, as Steelheads manager Scott Servais admitted “their bullpen shut us down, we weren’t able to do anything on them.”
Seattle Steelheads centerfielder Julio Rodriguez recorded a multi-hit game in the loss (Photos by Liv Lyons)
Steelheads centerfielder Julio Rodriguez once again had a big night, with two hits on the game he recorded his 23rd game with multiple hits this season. Also recording two stolen bases, and a run that came shortly after in the same sequence of the first stolen base. Julio has a total of 14 stolen bases on the season, his second stolen base effort did not lead to any more offense as he was left stranded on base.