Mariners: 4 takeaways from sweep by the San Diego Padres

1) Dunn does everything but win

Who the best pitcher is in the Mariners’ rotation so far this season depends on your perspective. For example, Flexen has the most wins, whereas Yusei Kikuchi has the most quality starts.

An argument can also be made for Justin Dunn due to not allowing more than three earned runs in any game, albeit having yet to pitch six innings in a start. Regardless, he entered Sunday’s contest with the best ERA in the rotation.

This remained the case, as Dunn did everything possible to put the Mariners in a position to win. And by everything, we mean everything.

In the fifth inning, the 25-year-old hit a two-out RBI double, to tie the game at 1-1. It represented the first hit and RBI of his Major League career.

In terms of Dunn’s pitching, Sunday was arguably his best start of the season as he allowed just one hit and one earned run in 5.0 innings. He generated seven swinging strikes, as 41 of his 71 pitches went for strikes.

The 2016 first round draft pick was also able to deal well with some challenges. He had three walks on the day and managed to get himself out of a major jam in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Unfortunately for Dunn, all the good work he put in was undone, after leaving the action with a 1-1 tie. The Mariners’ bullpen imploded in the sixth and seventh inning, by allowing three and four runs respectively.

There was some irony in the majority of the damage being done by Misiewicz and Dugger, who were both back from the COVID IL. Misiewicz in particular had a miserable outing, as he allowed four hits and three earned runs without recording a single out.

Back to Dunn, a final positive was that he was able to perform well despite pitching on one day’s shorter rest. Speaking to the media after the game, he said:

“I was excited, because there’s going to be a point where, hopefully, I’m in a situation to do that in a playoff run. Today was just a good test to show me I’m able to do it.

“I’ll file that one away in the routine and know what I have to do to be ready to [pitch] every five days. I was able to get deeper honestly, than I thought I was going to be able to.”

Talk of the playoffs is extremely premature at this point when it comes to the Mariners. However, if and when it happens, you get the feeling Dunn will be a significant reason why if he continues to improve and grow in confidence.

NEXT: OTHER HIGHLIGHTS