Mariners beat White Sox as Cal Raleigh is the hero again in 4-3 win

The Mariners overcome the late scratch of Bryan Woo due to lingering arm issues, to beat the White Sox and secure at least a series split.

The day had already started badly for the Seattle Mariners, when Bryan Woo was scratched from his scheduled start versus the Chicago White Sox. The ball club revealed they are awaiting the result of an MRI on the pitcher.

Then the day got even worse, as Woo’s replacement Jhonathan Diaz allowed three early runs and the Mariners found themselves down 3-1 halfway through the third inning. However, Diaz then managed to stop the bleeding, to give his teammates a chance.

Following on from Mitch Garver’s RBI double in the bottom of the second, Cal Raleigh hit a RBI double of his own an inning later, to pull the home side to within 3-2. Still, on a night when the Mariners only managed five total hits, they still found themselves trailing late in the contest.

Fortunately for Scott Servais’ team, when Diaz left the mound after 5.1 innings, the bullpen would give up just one walk and no hits or runs the rest of the way. With that kind of pitching, it at least gave the Mariners a chance to come back and win.

Raleigh leads the rally for the Mariners

And wouldn’t you know it, the hero was once again Raleigh, one night after his walk-off grand slam had beaten the White Sox. It was quite as spectacular this time around, but it proved to be just as important.

Facing a 3-0 count in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, Raleigh took advantage by blasting a double to right field, which brought home two runs and gave the Mariners their first lead of the night. Thanks to the aforementioned quality pitching of the bullpen, the lead held up and resulted in a 4-3 win.

Servais marvelled at his catcher, as he looked to explain the reasoning behind his recent success in clutch moments. Speaking to the media postgame, the Mariners manager said:

“I think it is the heartbeat, and the fact that he can hit multiple pitches. He’s a good fastball hitter, he’s also a good breaking ball hitter, and that really helps in those situations. … It’s a controlled aggression and he does a really good job with that in those moments, about as good as anyone we’ve seen here in quite some time.”

Raleigh tried to be self-deprecating and play down his heroics. Also speaking to the media, he said:

“Sometimes, being a dumb hitter is better than being a smart hitter. It’s a real thing. … I feel like in those moments, you really have to be committed to your plan. Whatever it is, you’ve got to live and die by it. Lord knows I’ve died by it many times. But there’s been a lot of times where it does work out.”

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Diaz impresses on short notice

In respect of Diaz’s start, Servais gave him credit for doing a good job given he only found out late on that he would be starting. The manager said:

“Awesome job by Jhonathan Diaz. Coming in on short notice and making a spot start, he did exactly what we needed. He just kept us in the ballgame. I loved the way he just kept throwing strike one. It was very impressive.”

For the day, Diaz allowed nine hits, one walk and three earned runs in his 5.1 innings, while also striking out four. Making his outing even more impressive, was that it was his first action in the Majors this season, to go along with limited experience overall in the big leagues.

With the victory, the Mariners improve to a season high nine wins over .500 at 39-30, and with a 6.5 game lead in the AL West. They have now secured at least a split of this four-game series and will send Bryce Miller to the mound on Wednesday night.

Do you have any concerns about the Mariners having so much trouble with the worst team in the Majors? Or is this more a case of a positive, in respect of being able to still win even when not playing at their best? Let us know in the comments section below.