Mariners jump on Diamondbacks early in 5-2 win

Cal Raleigh and Tom Murphy set the Mariners up to win first game of the series in Arizona, combining to score four RBI in opening inning.

As things stand, the mindset in the front office is that the Mariners haven’t done enough to justify making a big trade ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline. However, the players are doing their best to persuade Jerry Dipoto and company to change their minds.

Following Friday’s night’s 5-2 victory in Arizona, the Mariners have gone 8-4 in their past 12 games. Still 4.5 games back of a playoff spot, it might be too late to convince Dipoto, but at least they’re finally displaying some consistency.

In this respect, at 53-50 the Mariners are three games above .500 for just the second time this season. When you consider this, to even be within four losses of the second and third wild card spots is actually quite fortunate.

Cal Raleigh spoke for the players, when asked for his thoughts on what the front office should do prior to 3:00 pm PT on Tuesday afternoon. He said:

“We know we want to be buyers at the deadline. We want to compete. We want to keep going in this thing. It’s still far from over and we’ve played a lot of good baseball lately; we’ve just got to keep it going. … We have to keep our heads down and keep winning games.”

Scoring barrage to open the game

Along these lines, the Mariners set themselves on the way to victory with a big opening inning in the first of their three-game series versus the Diamondbacks. And it was Raleigh himself, who got the scoring started.

The Mariners loaded the bases with just one out, after the Diamondbacks decided to walk Teoscar Hernandez. The hosts were soon made to regret this decision.

Raleigh struck a double which just stayed in as it flew down the left-field line, bringing two runners home. Then it was the turn of his fellow catcher Tom Murphy, who was playing DH.

Murphy proceeded to also hit a double — this time to center-field — to score another two runners. At 4-0 up the Mariners already had enough runs to win (although they added a Eugenio Suarez RBI in the top of the seventh).

Gilbert keeps the Diamondbacks at bay

This was because the Mariners got an good outing from Logan Gilbert. Yes he allowed nine hits, but he gave up no walks while striking out five.

Most importantly of all, Gilbert did not allow any runs through six innings, with his splitter being particularly effective. He finally gave up a couple of runs in the bottom of the seventh, albeit it wasn’t entirely his fault.

The 26-year-old allowed two hits and the Mariners decided to remove him with one out. The Diamondbacks would cash in, thanks to a wild pitch from reliever Matt Brash and a subsequent throwing error by Raleigh.

Mariners shut up shop

Still down 5-2, this was as close as the Diamondbacks would get, with Andres Munoz and Paul Sewald both pitching a scoreless inning. If anything it was the Mariners who should have scored more, with two-on, one-out situations in both the top of the eighth and ninth.

Regardless, all that matters is the Mariners won. Speaking postgame, manager Scott Servais said:

“Good way to start the series. We jumped out early in the first inning on (Tommy) Henry right out of the chute, which is great to see.”

Servais was impressed with how well Gilbert pitched, given he wasn’t at his best. He said:

“I don’t think he was as sharp as we’ve seen in the past, but his split-finger pitch really played in the game tonight. It was awesome getting that deep in the ballgame without what I would say is his ‘A’ game tonight.”

Gilbert himself, was pleasantly surprised with how good his splitter was. He said:

“I probably didn’t expect to be this comfortable with it. I felt like it helped out a ton and honestly, the slider was kind of so-so and the splitter really made up for it. So I can go to that, especially ahead in the count.”

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Potential trade candidate?

The righty is on course to set new single-season bests in several categories, including WHIP and walk-rate per nine innings. His 1.059 WHIP is particularly impressive, currently ranking as eighth-best among all qualifying Major League starters.

Gilbert is coming into arguably his best form of the season at just the right time. This is highlighted by a 2.78 ERA during July, which represents his best month of 2023.

The potential downside to this, is the Winter Park, Florida native’s name has been mentioned as a trade candidate. Certainly, the Mariners would have to consider parting company with a major talent, if they changed their mind about added a big name at the trade deadline.

For his part, Gilbert loves being in Seattle and doesn’t want to go anywhere. He said:

“You hear things. It’s part of the business. I’m not too worried about it. I just kind of keep my head down and trust in God’s plan and what he’s got for me. That’s pretty much it.”

In the interim, Gilbert and the Mariners will look ahead to Saturday evening’s game in the desert. Bryan Woo will take the mound, looking to improve on his previous start against the Blue Jays.

If it meant bringing in a big bat to boost the offense, would you be prepared for Gilbert to be traded? If not, who would you prefer the Mariners offer in any potential return package. Let us know in the comments section below.