The Seattle Mariners( 11-19) completed an impressive three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers (10-17) Sunday with a 4-1 victory. The feat was impressive in how they did it. Two of the team’s brightest stars shined brightly on Sunday to give Mariner Nation hope that the youth movement is heading in the right direction. Sunday win marks the halfway point of the 60 game season.
IMPRESSIVE ROOKIES AT THE MIDBREAK
Justin Dunn showed both grit and determination after his best outing as a Mariner. Dunn took a line drive to the ribs in the second against the Dodgers in his last outing. On Sunday nothing was going to stop the determined Dunn . The 24-year old tied a career by pitching 6 innings, allowing just one hit, a walk, and set a new career-best with 6 strikeouts. In 2 starts this year against Texas, he has thrown a combined 12.0 IP, allowing 8 hits, 2 ER (1.50 ERA) and
“Great outing by Justin,” manager Scott Servais said. “I didn’t know quite what we were going to get, but his stuff was as good as we’ve seen in quite some time. That was a really nice bounce-back. And that’s three days in a row we’ve run 24-year-old starters out there and they all held their own. It’s great to see. These guys are continuing to learn and get better, and the confidence is growing. That’s what this year is all about.”
PARTNERS IN CRIME
Center fielder Kyle Lewis the leading candidate for AL rookie of the year hit his seventh home in the bottom of the first inning to jump-start the Mariners. The 25-year-old is hitting .368 and has hit safely in 8 consecutive games.
“Kyle is seeing the ball great,” Servais said. “It’s very easy. He’s not swinging hard; you can see it. His effort level is at a perfect spot right now, understanding where he’s at and the pitches he’s looking for. … It’s some kind of fun to watch, just to see him mature and grow and the confidence. And it’s rubbing off on some other guys, too, which is also a bonus.”
Austin Nola gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead when he connected on is 4th home run of 2020 season in the 2nd inning. Sam Haggerty collected his first Major League home run in the 5th .
MAKING A CASE FOR THE CLOSER ROLE
Taylor Williams is proving the Milwaukee Brewers wrong for waiving during Spring Training. The 29 -year-old Camas, Washington native notched his sixth straight save on Sunday.
“He’s got two really good pitches,” Servais said. “The ability to throw his slider in any count is a separator. He doesn’t just have to rely on the fastball, but he’s throwing harder now than probably any point in his career. That’s a credit to him. He made some adjustments when we were down during the pandemic and when he came back, he’d done something different mechanically.”
IMPRESSIVE SWEEP
Sunday’s sweep of the Rangers represents the team’s first series sweep since Sept. 17-19, 2019 at Pittsburgh, their first sweep at home since taking four from Detroit, July 25-28 last season and their first sweep of Texas since winning all three games from April 14-16, 2017 here at T-Mobile Park.
