Mariners complete Angels sweep with extra innings win

The Mariners come through for an important 3-2 win, thanks in large part to a fine collective performance from Bryce Miller and the bullpen.

For some, it’s tough to believe the Mariners are for real – understandable after they spent the first two-thirds of this season floating around the .500 mark. However, with every passing day they’re making more and more people sit up and take notice.

The Mariners are tied with the Orioles for the most wins since the beginning of July, at 22. They’ve won eight and tied one of their past 10 series.

As of Monday morning, they are just 2.5 games back of the last AL wild card spot and 3.5 back of the second wild card place. Also, the Mariners are on a season-high five-game winning streak, following Sunday’s 3-2 victory in extra-innings over the Angels.

Sunday turned into a war of attrition, as the Mariners fought long and hard to improve their playoff chances. They just wouldn’t quit despite having already won the series, in the process striking another blow to the Angels’ own playoff hopes.

In the end, the game was won by Eugenio Suarez, who produced his first hit in five at-bats in the top of the 10th, to come up with a RBI single and a 3-2 lead. This came a day after Suarez had seen his club record of consecutive games with a RBI halted at 10.

Hot sauce burns through the Angels

The job wasn’t quite completed yet though, with Tayler Saucedo still needing to close the deal. He came through in style though, with his second consecutive clean inning.

Saucedo also notched three strikeouts, as part of throwing called strikes on 18 of his 25 pitches. In the process, he saw his ERA drop to 2.08 on the season in 35 appearances out of the bullpen.

The 30-year-old had been asked to pitch two innings, because the bullpen was almost running on fumes. They only had one more reliever available, who could come into the game.

Saucedo — whose nickname is ‘Sauce’ — was understandably happy, more for the team than himself. Speaking postgame, he said:

“It felt pretty good, you know. … Everybody is happy, and we’re playing great baseball. We’re just trying to win every series, but a sweep is even better.”

Mariners manager Scott Servais was full of praise for the southpaw, who is in his first season with the Mariners. He said:

“I love his personality. He never gets too high or too low. He just kind of rolls with it and he likes those moments. He’s been able to make pitches in those moments to get us through it, and credit to him. He’s got a ton of confidence right now and we want to keep him right there.”

From Saucedo’s perspective, he’s just grateful for the opportunity in Seattle. He said:

“This has been easily my favorite year, by far. And obviously, to have the success with the team I grew up loving. Them putting the trust in me from the very beginning since I got here, it’s been awesome.”

It seemed very early on that Saucedo’s heroics wouldn’t be necessary, after J.P. Crawford hit a solo blast on the first pitch of the game. However, the Mariners would only add one more run in normal innings courtesy of another homer, this time from Teoscar Hernandez.

Miller matches a career high

Despite the Mariners’ lack of scoring, they were kept in the game thanks to a strong outing from Bryce Miller. The first year starter went 5.0 innings, allowing just five hits, no walks and one run.

Miller looked in the zone, as he induced 22 swinging strikes on 85 pitches. On the day he equaled a career-high of 10 strikeouts, which included two versus a certain Shohei Ohtani.

The Mariners rookie gave a telling insight into his mindset about facing the favorite to win this year’s AL MVP award. He said:

“I’d much rather go after him and not walk anybody. It felt good to strike him out.”

Miller’s effort saw him become just the fifth pitcher in club history with multiple starts of five-plus innings, one or fewer runs, no walks and 10-plus strikeouts in the same season. The other names on the list include Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Taijuan Walker and George Kirby.

As with Saucedo, the 24-year-old was happy, but more focused on the team’s success. He said:

“I felt probably the best I’ve felt all year. It’s always tough to sweep, particularly on the road and in a four-game series, but we’re getting hot. We’re playing good baseball right now.”

Servais was impressed with the variety of Miller’s pitches, with him not relying as much on his fastball. He said:

“I thought Bryce Miller actually threw the ball really well. I thought it was one of his better outings here. Obviously the 10 strikeouts. He got into his secondary pitches after the first inning, which is great to see. It’s something he’s struggled with, but now he’s landing some sliders and sweepers.”

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Mariners bullpen impressive in general

Between Miller leaving and Saucedo entering the game, the Mariners turned to Isaiah Campbell, Trent Thornton and Justin Topa to pitch an inning each. The only flaw came when Thornton allowed a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, to tie the game at 2-2.

Overall though the bullpen continues to thrive, despite the controversial decision to move Paul Sewald prior to the trade deadline. As on Monday morning they rank second in the Majors in ERA, tied-sixth in batting average, fourth in fewest walks and 10th in WHIP.

As Servais spoke about the game, you could hear the Mariners players cheering from the visting clubhouse. He said:

“We’ve got a fired up team over there. … A big series for us obviously. Coming in here you hope to win the series, but we walk out of here with a sweep.”

The Mariners will have a well-deserved and much-needed day off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday, in the first of a two-game series versus the underachieving Padres, with Logan Gilbert expected to start.

The remainder of this month sees five of seven series versus teams with records under .500. How confident are you the Mariners will be in a playoff spot come the beginning of August? Let us know in the comments section below.