Mariners complete four-game series sweep of Blue Jays with 6-5 win

The Mariners moved into a wild card spot thanks to Carlos Santana, who provided the winning home run for the second consecutive game.

You can make a case that on Sunday, the Mariners came out on top in a game they had no business winning for the second day running. However, luck often favors those on a good run of form, with Seattle having now won a season-high eight consecutive games.

Carlos Santana proved to be the hero again, as he launched a two-run bomb in the bottom of the eighth to provide the winning runs versus the Toronto Blue Jays. The previous night he hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning, for the only scoring the Mariners would need in a come-from-behind 2-1 victory.

Santana only joined the Mariners on June 27 via a trade with the Kansas City Royals, but he’s already settled in as a potent weapon on offense. In just 12 games he has three homers, six RBI, seven walks, a .282 batting average and .943 OPS. (His batting average and OPS would be considered career-highs over the course of a full season.)

Baseball is one of the ultimate team games, but for what it’s worth, the Mariners are now 11-1 since Santana joined them. In any event, his 12+ years of Major League experience will prove invaluable for a ball club looking to return to the postseason for the first time since 2001.

The 2019 All-Star has been in postseason contention previously and spoke to the media about the current mood of the team and the mindset needed moving forward. He said:

“Everything is positive right now, so we have to keep it up (and) think about one day at a time. It’s a long season so sometimes you are up and down … we have a great chance to make the playoffs, so we will see. But the energy is great, the fans are (supporting us) and the team is great, so when you see that, everything is good.”

To give another idea of how well things are going for the Mariners at the moment, consider Logan Gilbert. He had arguably his worst performance of the season on Sunday at T-Mobile Park, as he matched his season-highs of allowing nine hits and four earned runs.

It didn’t help that Logan gave up a home run on his very first pitch and at one point the Mariners found themselves down 4-1. However, he managed to last 6.0 innings and did just enough to keep the team within reach, including recording seven strikeouts and no walks within his 99 pitches.

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This aside, there was also the news the 25-year-old wasn’t selected for the All-Star game. The omission was somewhat of a surprise, considering he entered Sunday with the second most wins and fifth-lowest ERA among American League starting pitchers.

In fairness to Gilbert, he didn’t seem too bothered about missing out — he was more concerned about Ty France not being selected — and was instead focused on the Mariners. He said:

“It’s alright. I’m just trying to put up good numbers for the team and win games. That’s my job, so I’m not really too concerned (about the All-Star game). More importantly, we just swept the Blue Jays and we’ve got really good momentum right now. We’re playing well.”

Manager Scott Servais was well aware the Mariners were fortunate to win Sunday’s game. Speaking to the media afterwards, he said:

“Chaos ball is back. We saw it today. We got a few breaks. Anytime you sweep a team, certainly a quality team like the Blue Jays have, you’re gonna need to get a few breaks and we got a few today.”

With a crowd of 37,694 on Sunday, the Mariners averaged just over 34,000 during the course of the four-game series. Speaking about the atmosphere with Canadians visiting from over the border to support the Blue Jays, Servais said:

“It was (a) really awesome weekend with great crowds, a lot of energy in the ballpark. This is what Major League Baseball is supposed to be about. A lot of our young players are getting to experience it for the first time in this rivalry, and it was great.”

Following Sunday’s action, the Mariners have a record of 45-42 and hold the final wild card spot in the American League. They will now have a day off, before beginning a short two-game series in Washington on Tuesday versus the Nationals.

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One Mariner who won’t miss out on the All-Star game is Julio Rodriguez, who has earned his first career selection. At age 21, he joins Alex Rodriguez (two times, in 1996 and 1997) and Ken Griffey Jr. (two times, in 1990 and 1991) as the only Mariners players to be selected as an All-Star in their age 21 season or younger.

Rodriguez is the youngest player to be named an MLB All-Star since Atlanta Braves duo Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mike Soroka in 2019. He is the only rookie selected to this year’s All-Star Game and the fifth Mariners rookie in franchise history to earn an All-Star berth.

Following Sunday’s action, the Dominican Republic native is in the top five in a multitude of offensive categories among American League outfielders this season. He ranks first in stolen bases, third in hits, runs and total bases, fifth in extra-base hits, and tied fifth in batting average, home runs, doubles and multi-hit games.

Has the four-game series sweep of the Blue Jays made you a believer in the Mariners’ chances of qualifying for the playoffs? Or do you still need to see more, to consider them a legitimate contender? Let us know in the comments section below.