Mariners can hold heads high despite sweep by Astros

The Mariners and Astros tie a record for the longest game in postseason history, with the only run coming from the visitors in the 18th and final inning.

We won’t say it was worth the wait, purely because 21 years is too long for any team to go without a home playoff game. However, Mariners fans certainly made up for lost time to provide an electric atmosphere inside T-Mobile Park on Saturday afternoon.

Ultimately the result was a bad one for the home team, but at least it was a memorable experience. The M’s might have been swept by their hated divisional rivals, but they can still hold their heads high.

For three games, the Mariner went toe to toe with the Astros. In fact each contest could have gone the opposite way, especially Game One, which really they should never have lost.

At the end of the day though it was Houston who advanced, to an impressive sixth consecutive ALCS. Seattle can only hope they are headed in a similar direction, after following their rivals’ decision to start over with a complete overhaul of the franchise from top to bottom.

In this respect the positive signs are there, with Seattle being one of just six Major League teams to have 90+ wins in both 2021 and 2022. They’ve ended their 21 year postseason drought and will now look to build on this.

Kirby justifies Servais’ decision

The nucleus of young talent is certainly there, led by Julio Rodriguez, who showed in five playoff games he is the real deal. Another player who proved he can handle the brights lights on the big stage, was George Kirby.

Robbie Ray had struggled in recent weeks in general, in his playoff start versus Toronto and against Houston specifically this season. This led to a growing number of calls for Kirby to get the start in Game 3.

In some respects, it seemed outlandish to give a rookie his first ever playoff start versus a potent Astros team. And yet the unfazed Kirby went on to show Mariners’ manager Scott Servais made the right call.

The 24-year-old became the third-youngest pitcher in franchise history to start a postseason game. He belied his youth, to produce an outstanding effort for the Mariners.

In seven innings, Kirby gave up just six hits and no walks. He struck out five and — most importantly of all — allowed no runs.

The 20th overall 2019 draft pick came through repeatedly when it mattered most. This included when facing a two-out and two runners on base situation in the top of the seventh.

Coming up to the plate was Mariners-killer Jose Altuve. Kirby rose to the challenge and struck out Altuve, before letting out a passionate scream. (Amazingly Altuve went 0-for-8 in the game, just the sixth player to do so in postseason history.)

Outstanding pitching all around

It was then up to the bullpen to pick up the slack, although no one could have anticipated how much picking up would be required. When Kirby left, the reality is we were only just getting started in what would be an 18-inning marathon.

Regardless, the bullpen was tremendous, with nine relievers coming in to face the Astros’ bats. When it was all said and done, they combined for 11 innings and gave up just five hits and one walk, while striking out 15.

(It seems only fair to give Ray some credit at this point, after his recent struggles. He faced two pitchers and got the two outs required, including one strikeout.)

The bullpen would also only give up one run, which 99 times out of 100 would be enough to win a game. Unfortunately for Seattle, Houston’s pitching also rose to the occasion.

The two teams combined for 42 strikeouts, which is the most in postseason history. With four walks and just one run, there is no denying the pitching — and defense — on both sides was excellent.

Mariners offense struggles

At the same time however, the Mariners’ main foible once again reared its ugly head. The offense has been inconsistent all season and let them down when needed most on Saturday.

Seattle went just 7-for-60 on the day, only reaching second base three times and third base once. They went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 total runners.

Genuine scoring opportunities were clearly few and far between for Seattle. Arguably their best chance actually came early, in the bottom of the second.

The Mariners manufactured two walks with no outs and there was real hope of striking the first blow. However, they failed to get even one hit and Lance McCullers got the necessary three outs, to escape the inning unscathed.

Seattle ultimately lost, when Jeremy Pena hit a solo home run in the top of the 18th. They could not respond in the bottom of the inning and the dream finally died.

Afterwards, Sevais acknowledged the Mariners didn’t make the most of the opportunity presented to them. He said:

“When you start working through that meat of the lineup that they have over there — and certainly with (Yordan) Alvarez and (Alex) Bregman having very good series against us — and you get through it, you think, ‘Okay, now is our shot. We’ve got to take advantage of it.’ (However), we weren’t able to get anything going offensively.”

The future is bright

Despite the loss and the end of their season, the team remained positive and focused on the future. As Servais said:

“The number of young players that played huge roles for us in this series, it is going to benefit us just immensely going forward. It’s a brotherhood in that clubhouse, and it is something that’s going to serve us well and certainly serve our core — all the players — well going forward, as we took a huge step as an organization this season.”

It was undoubtedly an emotionally tiring and intense game for the Mariners and the 47,690 fans in attendance. At six hours and 22 minutes, it was also the third-longest in postseason history.

In this respect, major kudos must be given to Cal Raleigh. He became just the third player in postseason history to catch 18 innings of a game.

Player of the Game Raleigh was undoubtedly tired, but still able to reflect positively on the season. He said:

“It was amazing, these last couple of weeks. The (postseason) chase, and clinching and winning at Toronto. I mean honestly, if you flip a coin, we could have been about the champagne today.”

Raleigh did add that watching the Astros at the end of Saturday’s game will provide that bit extra motivation moving forward. He said:

“You never want to see somebody else celebrating on your home field, but hats off to them. It’s still going to be imprinted in a lot of our minds for a while, and we’re going to take it next year and remember how it felt.”

Saturday may well have been the end of the Mariners’ 2022 season. However, in reality this is really only just the beginning.

What stood out for you most during the Mariners’ postseason run this year? Where is your confidence at for next season, in respect of their ability to challenge the Astros for the AL West? Let us know in the comments section below.