Mariners complete four-game sweep of Athletics behind France’s multi-homer game and eight-inning outing from Gilbert
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – With their second one-run win in the past three games, the Seattle Mariners completed a four-game sweep over the Oakland Athletics. Seattle begins their ten-game homestand the right way, and got strong performances from Ty France and Logan Gilbert in tonight’s victory to push them to two games over the .500 mark for the first time this season. France, coming off a hand injury that caused him to miss yesterday’s game, had a two-homer game in this one to record his second ever multi-homer game. Gilbert went eight strong innings after giving up a two-run bomb in the first, only throwing 77 pitches, and could’ve arguably gone for a complete game. This is the first time that the Mariners have swept Oakland in a four-game set in Seattle since August 12th-15th, 1991.
“Four game sweep, hard to do. I know Oakland has like a young team and things have been hard for them. But our guys find a way to win. Driven by our starting pitching again. Awesome job by Logan, Logan is rolling right now. He’s got all four pitches working and he’s got a ton of confidence. It’s fun to watch. And I think Ty’s hand is okay, so I know there was some concern maybe we shouldn’t play him today. He’s okay. So again, we dodged a bullet the other night when he got hit but that pitch and he was certainly ready to go tonight. Jumped right on them, and we didn’t have a ton of opportunities, obviously the homeruns are huge, pull arally together, there late. I thought Julio had a really good night tonight. Big double to get that rally going there in the eighth. But it’s been starting pitching that gives us a chance every night and fun to watch. Young guys continue to get better and gain more confidence and they keep adding things to the repertoire, all of them. George, Logan, we’ve seen what Bryce has done so far. And it’s a fun to watch these guys every night.”
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert in his May 8th, 2023 outing against the Texas Rangers (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Gilbert gets around first inning for strong performance
Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert has been solid to start the year for Seattle, and hasn’t really had a “bad” game this year, as the most runs he’s given up in an outing is four (twice, April 18th and 26th.). As has been key in his young career, Gilbert has needed to work on his off-speed pitches because while his fastball can be overpowering, teams are able to get ahold of it after a while and you can’t rely on just one pitch. Logan, or rather his pitching alter ego Walter, has struggled with that before, but has improved upon it in every start since his debut. That sort of progression over time was noticeable in today’s game, as Gilbert got beat early, but rallied to have an impressive showing.
“It helps out a ton. It’s probably the first time in my career that consistently I’d say it’s been that way. And sometimes I mean throughout the entire night you might not have it but at different parts of night, I can go to different pitches and different counts, helps out a ton.”
“Probably after a couple starts, I think going into spring training, was kind of testing the waters and felt really good about it. The slider, where that’s been somewhat inconsistent in the past, and felt really good about that, the curve. After a couple of starts in here, and working with the catchers and seeing when the stuff plays the best, I think I was feeling pretty good.”
In the second at-bat of the game, Athletics first baseman Ryan Noda hammered a fastball on the outer-third of the plate for a double, setting himself up in scoring position for Seth Brown. Brown connected with Gilbert’s Knuckle-curveball that was placed in the middle quadrant of the plate, sending it into the first row of the seats in right field. It was a tough first few batters for Gilbert, getting ahold of his fastball and then his off-speed, but the third-year starter didn’t let the early struggle get to him and was able to lock it in. In the seven innings that followed, Logan Gilbert faced the minimum and the only time that didn’t happen (the 6th inning), all that Oakland got was a single.
“Oh, yeah, for sure. I always want to keep going, especially at that point and being so close to the end there. Thought I might have a chance with the pitch count where it’s at. But I mean, we’ve got the best bullpen and baseball. I’ve got a ton of faith in those guys. And especially when Paul comes out, you know, it’s gonna get the job done. So, I always want to go back out there, but I knew it was in good hands.”
“He was really good. You know, he comes out with that intent. Every time he steps on the mound, but I think one of the best things about tonight was, he was very efficient. Sometimes you’ll look up and you’ll see 70 pitches in the fourth inning. That wasn’t the case, tonight he was going right after him and just kind of showed that, hey, my stuff is better than you guys and went after it.”
“He’s changed a little bit. His profile has changed since when he first got here. He was a definite flyball pitcher. He was the guy that you know if you want to give an infield a day off, it was on Logan’s day, not so much anymore. He’s got so many pitches going down in the strikezone, the sliders changed. The split finger has become a real weapon for him. And the more confidence he has with it, you’re seeing it come out late in counts. It just comes out of that same tunnel as a fastball. Guys can’t lay off it so yeah, the strikeouts, the balls on the ground, all good things for any starting pitcher.”
Seattle Mariners first baseman Ty France in the May 8th, 2023 game against the Texas Rangers (Photos by Liz Wolter)
Swollen hand? No biggie
First baseman Ty France provided nearly all of Seattle’s offense in this game and two of the Mariners three runs in this game. Coming off a hit by pitch two days ago that nailed him in the meaty part of his left hand, some speculated that France would need an injured list stint or go on a slump considering how he’s played through injury before. In talking to France before the game, it was apparent that this current injury wasn’t as bad as the others he's dealt with before, and that if the pitch hit him closer to the wrist, then he would’ve been in far more trouble. But thankfully it wasn’t an injury that was going to keep him in the Seattle dugout long, and France was able to provide immediate impact and matched the amount of runs that the Athletics scored tonight.
“I try not to hit the sign because I don’t want to break the sign. Mr. Edgar will be upset. He told me in game is okay, but batting practice is off limits. But no, I mean, it’s just nice put to good swings on good pitches.”
France answered the Athletics two-run first inning by belting a sweeper on the outside third of the plate to left field, dropping it off like a gift into Edgar’s Cantina above the manual scoreboard. Following the frenzied first, there was a lull in the scoring as Gilbert continued to deal and Seattle’s offense was stagnant until the sixth inning when France came to the plate once again. Ty hammered a four-seam fastball that was high and inside, making a repeat trip to Edgar’s Cantina to tie things up. It was made apparent that France should be just fine following that hand injury.
“I’ve been in my pregame work. I’ve been kind of getting on time for inside stuff, because they’ve been kind of hammering me in. My strength is when I’m going the opposite way. But you know if they’re gonna attack me, then I gotta prepare for it. Last few days, I’ve been really trying to work on that in batting practice and it paid off.”
Another tight victory
After the team dropped the final game of their past road trip in Atlanta against the Braves, it continued a theme of Seattle failing to come through in one-run games this year after having historical success in them in 2021 and 2022. It seemed like the Mariners just weren’t going to be able to do that this year, as it was unlikely that they’d have even been able to sustain that through two years, let alone three. If this series against Oakland is any indication, then Seattle may be back on the clutch track once again. After France’s second homer of the day in the sixth inning that tied things up, the Mariners were looking to get some offense outside of their first baseman going. That started in the eighth inning, but was in danger of being a failed opportunity with the bases loaded as Jose Caballero walked then was replaced by Ty France on a force out, Julio Rodriguez’s double, and Jarred Kelenic being intentionally walked. Up brought Eugenio Suarez in a unique situation, as Geno had actually been in the bathroom right before he came to the plate. Suarez drew a walk with great patience, bringing France across home and giving Seattle the lead again.
“A lot that played into that, obviously. Things kind of unfolded rather quickly, Julio gets up there and swings at the first pitch, and Geno was down going to the bathroom, and came up and put his batting gloves on and they intentionally walked Jarred immediately and you know had no idea what the guy threw. Never seen him before. Go play baseball. Wanted a good pitch, didn’t get a good pitch he could swing it and it worked out okay. Sometimes that happens. You know what I mean? And seems like it happens to Geno maybe more than others, but worked out okay.”
Importance of this four-game streak for many batters
While yes, as I’ve stated throughout the course of this four-game series, these Oakland Athletics are a very bad, struggling team and franchise, getting these four wins is big on numerous levels. Not only to get Seattle going on a four-game winning streak and build some momentum as the month of May is coming to a close, but also individually for some players that were struggling to this point of the season. Julio Rodriguez and Ty France particularly are players who hadn’t had the best stretch coming into this homestand, and getting rolling could be huge for the team. While it’s been great to see players like JP Crawford and Jarred Kelenic have good starts to the year, Seattle needs more than a few in order to reach their full potential.
Julio had been struggling and sort of scuttling along to begin the season. Through this four-game sweep against the Athletics, Rodriguez hit 8-17, which comes out to a .470 batting average. It doesn’t matter that it was against this bad Oakland team, that sort of performance at the plate could begin a strong stretch for Julio. France hit at the .245 mark through the months of March and April, which is fine, but has bumped things up to .289 currently in the month of May. It has to be stated again that Seattle shouldn’t rely on only a few batters, but getting Rodriguez and France back to the All-Star level we saw last season would be monstrous for the Mariners.
“Yeah, that was big. I think that’s what the best teams do, win the games you’re supposed to and even win some games that you’re not in. Even close game here, trying to take the last one and get the sweep. So that’s huge, especially for where we’re at. I feel like we’re playing really good ball lately, and talked about it before. Like, once everything comes together and we’re clicking on all cylinders, we’re really hard to beat and I feel like we’re there right now are very close to it. So, I think we’re in a good spot.”
Quick notes
The Mariners improved to 26-24 with tonight’s 3-2 win.
Seattle swept the 4-game series against Oakland.
Seattle is now 2 games above .500 for the first time this season.
It was Seattle’s 14th comeback win.
The Mariners improve to 6-12 in 1-run games.
Tonight marks the Mariners 3rd series sweep of the season (others: 3 G, 4/14-4/16 vs. COL; 3 G, 5/2-5/4 at OAK).
This marks the Mariners first 4-game series sweep of the season.
Ty France recorded his second career multi-homer game with home runs in the 1st and 6th innings.
France’s last multi-HR game was with the San Diego Padres on September 1, 2019 at San Francisco.
It’s the fifth time this season a Mariners player has hit 2+ HR in a game (last: Cal Raleigh on 5/15 at BOS).
He has homered in back-to-back games for the first time of the season (last: 8/28/22-8/30/22).
His second home run tied the game 2-2.
Logan Gilbert earned the win, going 8.0 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 3 hits with no walks and 6 strikeouts on 77 pitches (59 strikes).
He matched his career-high with 8.0 innings pitched, doing so for the 2nd time in his career (other: Sept. 30, 2022 vs. Oakland).
He ended the night after 3 hits, 2 runs (2 earned runs), no walks, 1 home run, and 6 strikeouts.
Julio Rodríguez went 2-for-4 tonight with a double.
His 8th inning double advanced France to third base, and France scored the eventual game-winning run on a Eugenio Suárez walk with bases loaded.
Julio recorded 8 hits across the 4-game series.
José Caballero reached base safely twice in 3 plate appearances, drawing a walk and recording a hit by pitch.
He has a .500 on base percentage this month.
In May, he has reached based 27 times in 54 plate appearance.
Seattle starting pitchers in the 4-game series vs. Oakland: 1.38 ERA (4 ER, 26.0 IP) with 4 walks and 24 strikeouts…via Gary Hill Jr.
It was the shortest Mariners game by time (2 hours, 0 minutes) this season, surpassing a pair of 2:04 games (4/1 vs. CLE, 4/27 at PHI).
It was the shortest Mariners 9-inning game by time since July 1, 2018 vs. Kansas City in a 1-0 Seattle win over the Royals at T-Mobile Park…that game was also 2 hours and 0 minutes.
What’s next?
Following this four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics to begin their ten-game homestand, the Mariners will welcome the Pittsburgh Pirates to town for a three-game set. It’ll be the first time that the Pirates will head out to Seattle since 2016 (Split series 1-1) and the first time that the teams have battled since 2019 (Pirates swept in three games). The Mariners are looking to keep their positive momentum going and continue to push their positive record up, as they’re now two games above .500. If you’re a fan of good pitching, this is an excellent game for you to witness, as the Mariners will have young star George Kirby on the mound dueling against the Pirates’ Mitch Keller. First pitch for tomorrow’s game on Friday, May 26th is at 7:10PM PST.