Mariners take series against Cardinals with 5-4 win in game two
By Bel Garcia
Seattle, WA - In a sport filled night for Seattle, one team saw themselves in an early deficit, but a couple of familiar faces got things started for their offense. The St. Louis Cardinals were in town for the second game of the series against the Seattle Mariners. Having lost 5-2 to the Mariners in game one, the Cardinals got off to a quick start. A surprising beginning as Luis Castillo was on the mound, coming off a huge performance in his last start. He had a near perfect game in that outing, pitching through seven innings, retiring 18 batters he faced. Tonight, however, would have a different tune as the Cardinals got three quick hits and found themselves with an early one run lead off a Lars Nootbaar scoring run off an Nolan Arenado single in the first inning
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Luis Castillo’s night through pictures (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)
While it may be easy to spot an off game from Castillo, he was not the only one that had things to clean up in the early innings. There were missed catches and mistakes that contributed to Seattle being in a quick deficit. On two doubles by St. Louis, runs came in from some avoidable mistakes by the Mariners, as the Cardinals quickly saw themselves re-gain a two-run lead in the top of the third. The first double by Willson Contreras went to right field in Teoscar Hernandez’s direction, but he was unable to make the catch as Julio tried to clean it up, but not before Alec Burleson made it home for the Cardinals. This was followed by another RBI double by Nolan Gorman, scoring Contreras and a throwing error to JP had Gorman safe at second. Luckily, Seattle was able to stop the bleeding on a Tyler O’Neill fly out for the third out.
Seattle Mariners left fielder Jarred Kelenic continues to perform in the early part of the season (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)
You know him, you love him
It’s been great to see Jarred Kelenic’s success this season after having been criticized harshly last season when things just weren’t going right for him. At this point of the season, Kelenic has fit into more of a hero role with the Mariners. He has safely hit in 13 of his last 15 games and reached base safely in 15 of 16 games. He has continued to make an impact for the Mariners, as tonight he tied the game at one run with a solo homer to left center in the bottom of the second to keep this one within reach. In his four plate appearances, Kelenic was the only hitter to get more than one hit on the night, totaling two.
Seattle Mariners right fielder Teoscar Hernandez blasted a two-run homer to tie things up at three-runs apiece (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)
Familiar faces with reliable help
Another familiar face in this series, Teoscar Hernandez had a homerun of his own to also tie the game for the Mariners. For Teo, this was his second of the series on back-to-back nights, as this one came with another run as he also scored Cal Raleigh. It was what Seattle needed to get the momentum shift in their favor going into the last three innings of the game. Eugenio Suarez has also had a bit of a streak going before tonight, having reached base in 17 consecutive games. In today’s matchup, he extended that to 18, but in a major game-winning way. On a single to left field where no Cardinal was in clear sight, Suarez had a two-RBI single, scoring Kolten Wong and JP Crawford. It was all the Seattle Mariners needed to close in on the win.
Cardinal’s Tommy Edman attempted to inch it closer with a solo homer in the top of the ninth, but reliever Paul Sewald closed out the game only allowing the one hit. Luis Castillo did not perform in the manner that we are used to, but the brightest stars have dark days and tonight just wasn’t his night. He was relieved in the top of the sixth inning and had his team to lean on for the 5-4 win as they look ahead to a possible series sweep.
Paul Sewald closed out the win, and the Seattle Mariners clinched the series win over the St. Louis Cardinals (Photos by Mathew Bermudez)