Mariners win streak hits 8 games for the second time this month as Seattle earns series win over White Sox
By Charles Hamaker
Chicago, IL – The Seattle Mariners continue to roll along here in the month of August and, with the Texas Rangers loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, are just a game out of the top spot in the American League West. Seattle was able to somewhat cruise to their 6-3 victory over Chicago, a result that gave them the series win with eyes towards a sweep tomorrow. They were able to secure victory without their superstar Julio Rodriguez, who was a last-minute scratch due to a “stomach bug.” The Mariners are looking strong at the right time, kicking into high gear after beginning the current ten-game road trip with that frustrating late loss to the Kansas City Royals.
Woo back baby
Rookie right-handed pitcher (I realize this can apply to a few Mariners we’ve seen this season, and I am sorry) Bryan Woo made his return to the team in today’s ballgame, being activated from the injured list and in limited capacity. Prior to first pitch, Seattle manager Scott Servais stated that Woo was going to be on a pitch count and was only going to go four innings as the team looked to ease him back into his rotation spot. The first inning saw a walk lead to a fielder's choice before two singles gave the White Sox the first run of the game, and there was some traffic on the base paths in the second, but otherwise Woo did his job. He saw the minimum in the third and fourth innings to settle in and did end up with eight whiffs by the time his day was done.
Woo was charged with using five pitch types: 4-seam fastball, sinker, cutter, slider, and one singular changeup. Bryan saw pitch velocity decrease in all but two pitches: the two he threw the least, that slider (which he saw an increase in, actually) and the one singular changeup which we really can’t judge. His spin rate was up in every pitch he threw except for his cutter, and what those two (velocity and spin rate) means is that Bryan was getting strong life on his pitches which is a great sign to see as he’s coming off the injured list. While the first inning had its flaws, we’ll give Woo the benefit of the doubt coming off an injury and since he managed to settle in. He got the job done today, given the circumstances.
Baseball is life!
When Mariners President of Baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said that the trade that sent Paul Sewald to Arizona for Dominic Canzone, Josh Rojas, and Ryan Bliss was delayed “5-6 days” because of Seattle being insistent, I scoffed a bit. This was a versatile position player (Look at Dipoto’s track record in Seattle, he loves those three words) that was coming off a 3.0 WAR season, but really hadn’t done much at all season. Why in the hell would that trade be held up for this player? While it may not have been obvious at first, when Rojas struggled heavily as he adjusted to his new club, and I’m not saying his ceiling is the sky, Rojas has kicked into a new gear since August 11th and a few conversations with personnel around the team. Now, after some of those talks which include Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez, Rojas has settled in and seems like he’s becoming a mainstay in Seattle’s lineup.
Rojas led the team today with two runs batted in, which he can thank Mike Ford partially for because the team's designated hitter drew a walk with two outs to keep the top of the fourth going, which brought up Rojas. These two-runs extended the Mariners lead at the time, as Seattle had got the small ball rolling early to plate their first two runs. The Mariners continue to play good baseball, racking up a respectable nine hits on the day against White Sox starter Mike Clevinger and the Chicago bullpen. They’re producing still, two nights in a row without Julio Rodriguez, and that’s an extremely positive sign for an offense that had a consistency problem for most of the year before we hit the first of July.
‘Pen report
Considering that Woo was on a pitch limit, Seattle’s bullpen was going to have to do some work in this game. All things considered; the Mariners relievers were able to get the job done despite two runs that they allowed over two of the six total that they deployed in tonight’s ballgame. Seattle sent out Tayler Saucedo, Trent Thornton, Isaiah Campbell, Justin Topa, Gabe Speier, and Andres Munoz in that order. Campbell saw the longest outing of them all, going an inning and two thirds, while also having perhaps the toughest performance as he allowed a run on four hits total. Speier, in the ninth inning, gave up a run on two hits, and that resulted in Scott Servais calling to the pen one last time for the night to bring in Munoz to get the final out of the ballgame which he did with a strikeout.
Quick notes
With his 2-run HR in the 4th inning, Josh Rojas is now batting .375 (12x32) with 11 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 2 BB and 2 SB over his last 10 games (8/11-c).
Mariners batters have been hit-by-pitches 87 times this season, most in MLB
Seattle (87)
New York-NL (81)
Minnesota (73)
Mariners pitchers have hit 34 batters this season, fewest in MLB
Seattle (34)
Arizona (36)
Detroit (40)
Mike Ford has reached base safely 4 times in tonight's game (2 H, BB, HBP), marking his 3rd-career game with 4+ times on base - all this season w/SEA.
5 TOB - 7/7/23 at HOU
4 TOB - TONIGHT at CWS
4 TOB - 7/4/23 at SF
The Mariners extend their winning streak to 8 games, tying their season-high (also: 8 G, Aug. 2-11). Seattle is 1 of 2 teams in MLB this season with multiple winning streaks of 8+ games, joining Atlanta.
The Mariners are the 1st team with multiple 8+ game winning streaks (unique streaks) within a calendar month since the Dodgers in July 2017
They’re the 1st team to do this with the month in question being *August or later* since: the Orioles in August 1980
What’s next?
Following tonight’s win over the White Sox and the resulting series victory, the Mariners will be looking for a three-game sweep of Chicago in tomorrow’s series finale. Seattle will have determined right hander George Kirby on the mound, who will certainly be looking to have an impressive outing after allowing four runs on eight hits in his last appearance. It isn’t a bad performance, per say, but with how competitive George is, Kirby will be looking to dominate in his next outing. He’ll go against White Sox starter Michael Kopech, who has struggled in recent performances, when the teams meet with a first pitch of 11:10AM PST. The one downside of this game is that the heat is expected in the triple digits, which is also a factor into why we may not see Julio Rodriguez in this game as Seattle tries to get their superstar more rest.