Mariners overcome lacklustre offense to win 2-1 in extra innings

George Kirby excels and J.P. Crawford hits walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, to help the Mariners secure series win over Astros.

How much longer are the Seattle Mariners going to be able to continue pushing their luck? While this may seem like an unfair question given this is a ball club currently leading the AL West, but it’s still relevant to ask.

Yes the Mariners won 2-1 on Wednesday night, to make it four consecutive victories and clinch their series versus the Houston Astros. However, with just four hits — in 10 innings mind — the reality remains that the offence is barely keeping up its end of the bargain.

As of Thursday morning, the Mariners rank 27th in the Majors in batting average and tied-25th in OPS. And most importantly of all, they are tied for the second-fewest runs in all of baseball.

On the flip side, the Mariners’ pitching staff is first in team WHIP, fourth-best in batting average and ninth in ERA. As a result they have a 31-26 record at the time of writing, and lead their division by 3.5 games.

The thing is, how far can the ball club go with a formula that is effectively excellent pitching, solid defense and (below) average offense? Admittedly it’s succeeding so far, but will it be enough to get them back into the playoffs?

J.P. comes through in the clutch

If nothing else, the formula continued to work on Wednesday night, with J.P. Crawford’s walk-off sacrifice fly winning the game in the bottom of the 10th. The Mariners’ other run came in the bottom of the fifth, as Dominic Canzone’s solo blast tied the game at 1-1.

Speaking to the media postgame, Crawford made it sound like the game was a day at the office which he wanted to be finished as soon as possible. He said:

“Get the game over with, get the job done and let’s go home. Get a good pitch, don’t miss it. And, thankfully I didn’t miss it.”

In fairness though, the 2013 16th overall draft pick did admit to embracing his moment in the limelight. He said:

“If you don’t look forward to being the hero of the night, you’re in the wrong sport. Once you get into that spot where you know you can win the game, there was nothing else that was going through my mind.”

Kirby responds in style

That the Mariners had the chance to win came down to an excellent bounce-back game from George Kirby, who had allowed six hits and five earned runs in 6.0 innings during his previous start versus the Washington Nationals. Yes he did give up six hits again against the Astros while once more going 6.0 innings, but this time only conceded one RBI, in the top of the fourth.

There’s no denying Kirby has endured his struggles so far in 2024, as highlighted by a 4.05 ERA which would be the worst of his career if it held up the rest of the way. However, he has also produced a 1.024 WHIP to date, which would be the best of his three years in the Majors.

Regardless, for one game at least, the Astros had little answer to the 2023 All-Star. Speaking to the media, he said:

“They’re aggressive and just got to make them feel uncomfortable. I used a lot of different offspeed tonight, I thought that worked really well.”

As much as we have been critical of the Mariners lineup — which is justified in a general sense — we do also accept that on Wednesday night specifically, they had some excuse. After all, they did have to deal with the prospect of Justin Verlander on the mound.

The three-time AL Cy Young winner went 7.0 innings, in the process allowing just three hits, a walk and one earned run. Mariners manager Scott Servais appreciated how good both Verlander and Kirby were, as he said:

“That’s as good as it gets in this league, any league, Verlander and George going back and forth. It was fun to watch when George was out there. It wasn’t so fun to watch when Verlander was out there. It was one of those games going into it you have to figure out a way to grind through it.”

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Mariners bullpen excels

Still on the subject of pitching, the Mariners bullpen was nearly lights out versus the Astros. The relievers went a combined 4.0 shutout innings, and allowed just one hit and no walks, while striking out six.

Even with the series win and the Astros floundering well below .500, Servais is taking nothing for granted. He said:

“I think our guys understand you’ve got to beat these teams. (If) you want to win the division, you’ve got to beat the teams that have been there. They have owned the division here over the last six/seven years.”

With the series won, the Mariners will now aim for the four-game sweep on Thursday afternoon. Logan Gilbert will take the ball, as he looks to continue his start to the season as arguably the best pitcher in the rotation.

Is the formula of strong pitching and solid defence enough to make up for the lack of a consistent threat from the lineup in the long run? More specifically, how confident are you that the Seattle Mariners will return to the playoffs this season? Let us know in the comments section below.