Mariners: 4 takeaways from road series win versus Baltimore Orioles

1) The real Gonzales returns to the mound

If Marco Gonzales had been terrible again on Thursday, there would have been a sense of guilt in dedicating yet another takeaway to him. And yet, following the opening inning this scenario looked likely.

After retiring the initial two batters of the game with ease, it all seemed to fall apart for Gonzales. By the end of the first inning he had allowed three hits, two earned runs and a walk.

It also didn’t help that the 29-year-old took 34 pitches to get through the opening frame. The Mariners’ decision to move up his start to increase their chances of winning the first game of Thursday’s double header appeared set to backfire.

However, the high standard Gonzales demands of himself then came to the fore. He subsequently turned around his performance in stunning fashion, as he was all-but flawless for the remainder of his outing.

The 2013 first round draft pick only allowed one walk, as he needed just 49 pitches to get through the next four innings. He went on to pick up his first win of the season after the M’s came from 2-0 down to score four combined runs in the fifth and six innings.

After the game, it was interesting to get an insight into Gonzales’ mindset during his bad start to the season. Speaking to the media, he said:

“I’ve done this a lot of times before. I’ve failed a lot of times before and this is nothing new to me.

“I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t failed and learned from my mistakes a lot. You’re going to get the same guy every time out and I’m going to put in the work to continue getting better.”

In many ways, Gonzales’ attitude and resilience epitomizes the ball club as a whole. In fact, as he told the media, he has come to expect a similar approach from his teammates:

“It’s a hard-working group and we fight till the last out and it’s a resilient group. It’s fun to pitch for and it’s fun to watch these guys work.”

As we mentioned after Gonzales’ first two starts, the previous time he had consecutive bad performances, he rebounded with five wins in his next six appearances, only once allowing more than two earned runs. Seattle will be hoping Thursday’s outing represents the beginning of a similar run of form.

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