Mariners hang on for 7-6 win over Twins

Jarred Kelenic and Eugenio Suarez lead the charge, as Mariners claim important win in the first of a four-game series versus the Twins.

The situation was looking ominous for the Mariners through four innings. Down 2-0, just two hits, and searching for answers against the Twins.

While Logan Gilbert wasn’t having his best outing, he was doing enough to keep his team in the game. There have been far too many occasions this season when the Mariners have been let down by their offense, and Monday night was setting up as another one of those games.

Fortunately for the Mariners and their fans, the bats finally came alive in the fifth. And the four-run inning would prove key in eventually prevailing over the AL Central-leading Twins.

Jose Caballero got the ball rolling with a one-out single, to pull the home side to within 2-1. This was soon followed by Julio Rodriguez patiently forcing a walk in a two-out bases loaded situation, to tie the game at 2-2.

Next, it was the turn of that man Jarred Kelenic, who has often come up with hits in clutch situations this season. He continued this trend with a single, which scored two runs and gave the Mariners their first lead of the night, at 4-2.

Gilbert not at his best but still good enough

There was some criticism surrounding Scott Servais’ decision to take Gilbert out of the game after just five innings. While the righty had thrown 94 pitches, he had repeatedly proved his durability, including making four consecutive starts of six or more innings.

In fairness to Servais though, Gilbert himself admitted he wasn’t at his best on Monday night. Speaking postgame to the media, he said:

“I felt a little out of sync, not making pitches consistently. Sometimes I’d make a good pitch. Sometimes it’d get away from me a little bit, where I feel like the last few weeks I’ve kind of been in a good place with that.”

Gilbert is always pushing himself to be the best he can, and detailed where he thought things went wrong. He said:

“We talked about going to the fastball a little more as the game progressed. (I) probably got away from that a little bit. It was just long at-bats and foul balls.”

Servais followed up on the situation with the 26-year-old’s fastball, or lack thereof. He said:

“He’s sitting close to 70 pitches after three innings. I had a conversation with him and I said, ‘I need five, so you better get your fastball back in play’. And he did. He got some easy outs with his fastball after that, without having his best fastball. His first three innings weren’t very easy, but he got us through the fifth, which allowed us to win the game.”

It tells you a lot about Gilbert’s ceiling, when you view his stat line on what was considered a poor night by his standards. Yes he allowed seven hits, but he only walked one and gave up just two earned runs, while striking out five.

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No cruising to the finish line

After the Mariners’ big inning, the Twins struck back almost immediately with a solo blast in the top of the sixth, to make it 4-3. However, the home side then responded themselves in the bottom half of the inning.

Cal Raleigh scored after a wild pitch from Sonny Gray, to increase the M’s lead to 5-3. This proved to be the end for Gray, with the three-time All-Star falling apart after looking strong through four innings.

Seattle then struck again an inning later, thanks to a two-run homer from Eugenio Suarez. At 7-3 the game was seemingly out of reach, but this is the Mariners we’re talking about – they never make things easy for themselves.

The Twins hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off reliever Ty Adcock, to make it 7-6. Were the Mariners really going to throw away all the hard work they’d put in on the night?

The answer was no, as Paul Sewald came in to get the final out. In the process, he secured his 19th save of the season.

Mariners make the most of their opportunities

The Mariners only had seven hits on that night. However, with the combination of four walks, they worked this to the max, to get their seven runs.

Servais was certainly impressed with what the offense achieved on the night, particularly in the fifth. He said:

“I thought the quality of at-bat got better as the game went on. It didn’t start off so good and Sonny Gray is really good. But after we made a few adjustments, understanding that you’re not going to hit the long ball off Sonny Gray. You’ve got to take your singles, work your walks and we were able to do that and put a big inning together.”

As much as the Mariners made hard work of it, a win is a win. And given their struggles in one-run ball games this season — as opposed to leading the Majors in one-run wins the past two years — it was also welcome.

With the victory, Seattle once more moves above .500, to 47-46. They also climb to within 4.5 games of a wild card spot in the AL, with plenty more still to do.

Next up, Bryan Woo will make his first start since the All-Star Break. He is 1-1 since coming into the Mariners’ rotation, with a 3.63 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in seven outings.

Are you seeing enough from the Mariners, to believe a playoff spot is a genuine proposition? Or are you of the mindset that this is a .500 ballclub? Let us know in the comments section below.