Mariners: 5 takeaways from much needed series win series versus Indians

3) Flexen and Sheffield come through when it counts

One of the biggest obstacles to getting regular and consistent performances from the rotation has been a lack of stability. James Paxton only made one start before being lost for the season, while staff ace Marco Gonzales has been on the IL since April 29 with a left forearm strain.

In addition, Paxton’s replacement Nick Margevicius was recently moved from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL. As a result, the Mariners have even had to rely on bullpen starts in order to maintain their preferred choice of a six-man rotation.

With all this upheaval, Seattle more than ever need some reliability from those in the rotation who have been able to take the mound regularly this season. Fortunately for the ball club, they got just that from two of their more durable starters during the Cleveland series.

First up on Friday was Chris Flexen, who has been a pleasant surprise for the Mariners so far this season. In some respects, it could be argued he was underwhelming on the night, with 56 of his 85 pitches going for strikes and no strikeouts in 5.2 innings.

In addition, just four of Flexen’s pitches resulted in swings and misses, as he gave up five hits in total. However, the reality is he showed a lot of veteran savvy and did what it took to mostly nullify the Indians’ offense.

The 26-year-old generated nine groundouts, no walks and — most importantly of all — only one earned run during his outing. When he left the game with two outs in the sixth and one man on base, Seattle had a commanding 5-1 lead.

When it was all said and done Flexen had notched his team-leading fourth win of the season, as the Mariners completed a 7-3 victory. He also leads regular starters on the ball club with a 3.46 ERA.

Despite Flexen’s individual success this season, he took the time to praise the support of his teammates. Speaking to the media after Friday’s game, he said:

“It’s huge for those guys to get going. A big game tonight to snap the losing streak and to be able to get ahead like that, any time you’re pitching with a lead you pitch with a lot of confidence with those guys behind your back.”

Next up on Saturday was Justus Sheffield, who has been a bit hot and cold to this point of the season. Fortunately for the Mariners, he was motivated to perform well against the team which had picked him in the first round of the 2014 draft.

Sheffield had given up a career-high seven runs in his previous outing, but was ready for this one. He mixed up his slider and sinker well, with the latter pitch in particular doing damage by generating 13 called strikes.

The 25-year-old did face some challenges with five hits and a season-low two strikeouts. However, he didn’t allow any runs until the sixth inning, when he finally gave up two.

As a result, Sheffield matched his season high of 6.0 innings and left the game with the Mariners leading 5-2. In addition he picked up the win, to improve to 3-3 on the season.

Interestingly, Sheffield made an in-game adjustment following the second inning, which seemed to help him. Speaking to the media afterwards, he said:

“I felt like I was getting a little quick. My head was pulling out, my shoulder was pulling out, but after I got in line, I felt a lot better.

“I felt like my pitches were moving the way I wanted them to and I was in the zone a lot more than definitely early on in the game. Being able to make that adjustment during the game was huge.”

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