Mariners persevere through eight hours to beat Guardians 6-3

Julio Rodriguez has four-hit performance as the Mariners overcome a four and a half hour weather delay and extra innings, to sweep the Guardians in Cleveland.

There has been no doubt these past two seasons the Mariners are a resilient team who are hard to beat. However, this was put to the test and then some on Sunday in Cleveland.

Things started off simple enough for the Mariners, as they took an early 2-1 lead. However, with two runners on base and no outs in the top of the fourth, the skies opened with a downpour.

The result was a four and a half hour delay before play resumed. Despite adding another run in the fourth to make it 3-1, nothing was going to be easy about this game.

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George Kirby had looked good through three innings, allowing three hits and just the one run. He had two Ks and no walks on 39 pitches, 27 of which were strikes.

Due to the considerable delay however, the decision was made to remove Kirby from the game. If nothing else, at least he extended his Major League record to 20 games to start a career, of one or less walks.

While you could understand this move, it meant the bullpen would have to pick up the slack. But this turned out to be more slack than bargained for, after Cleveland tied the game 3-3 with runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

The Mariners eventually won in the 11th inning, as the game finally ended eight hours and 20 minutes after first pitch. However, fans may well worry about a bullpen which — no matter how good it is — used nine relievers.

In total, the bullpen pitched eight innings, giving up six hits, five walks and two earned runs in the process. The reason the game went to extra innings, was due to Diego Castillo and Erik Swanson each giving up a score. (Although this should not be interpreted as a criticism of either.)

Rodriguez leads the way for Mariners

Seattle’s offensive star on the day/night was undoubtedly Julio Rodriguez. In total, he had four hits, an RBI and two runs of his own.

After a slump — at least for Rodriguez — of just two hits in six games, there was some concern he was still impacted by his recent wrist injury. However, with nine hits in his past six games, this has hopefully been put to bed.

For all Rodriguez’s prowess at the plate, it was J.P. Crawford who had the key at-bat which would ultimately win the game. His hit brought Eugenio Suarez home, as he advanced to second base.

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The Mariners received some welcome insurance, when Cal Raleigh‘s homer added two more runs to make it 6-3. Raleigh had come in to pinch hit in the top of the ninth, and once again proved how clutch he is.

With the two-run blast, Raleigh now leads all Major League catchers with 22 home runs his season. In addition, Seattle is 18-2 in games when he hits a home run.

Proud of his team

Afterwards, a mentally drained Scott Servais marveled at the never-say-die attitude of his players. Speaking to the media, the manager said:

“This team, and really it’s been the last couple of years, they fight. They fight all the way to the end. You don’t know how it’s going to work out and you don’t know who’s going to get the big hit, but we keep grinding and finding ways to put pressure on the opponent. And finally, hopefully, somebody will break through and that’s what happened tonight.”

With the combination of other results around the league, the Mariners now hold the first wild card spot in the AL. They are on a league-best seven-game winning run, after going 6-0 on this now completed road trip.

The game in Cleveland finished at 11:01 p.m. ET, meaning they didn’t get back home until the early hours of Monday morning in Seattle. As well as having no off-day to recover, their first game versus the White Sox is scheduled to begin at 3:40 p.m. PT.

Combine this with the Mariners’ bullpen being overworked on Sunday, they face a daunting task in the coming days. This may well prove to be the ultimate test of the ball club’s mental fortitude and fighting spirit.

Do you have any concern about the impact of the weather delay, using so many relievers and the subsequent late return to Seattle impacting the Mariners in the coming days? Let us know in the comments section below.