By Paul Taylor Posted on

Mariners end losing streak with gutsy 1-0 win versus the Yankees

Logan Gilbert brought his A-game when the Mariners needed it the most, to help set them up for a desperately needed victory in The Bronx.

The Mariners entered Thursday’s series finale versus the Yankees in a whole world of hurt. They were on a season-worst six-game losing streak which had them nine games below .500, 5.5 games off the AL West summit and 4.0 games out of a wild card spot. With just 41 games remaining, their chances of making the playoffs looked dire.

The first two games of this series against the Yankees had seen the Mariners lose in two contrasting ways, but in both cases they gave up leads. So on a day when they scored their only run courtesy of a solo blast by Weston Wilson after a long at-bat in in the top of the second, fans could be forgiven for believing it was only a matter of time before the hosts came back to win and sweep the series. Such has been the life of an M’s fan during a horrendous run of just five victories in 20 games.

However, this was a new day and the Mariners came to the ballpark with a renewed sense of grit and determination, to somehow end the losing streak and start to turn things around. Leading the charge was Logan Gilbert, who went full “Walter” mode when his teammates needed it most. In fairness the stage was set for him to succeed, given his 2.50 ERA on the road this season compared to a 4.01 ERA at home in Seattle.

Logan Gilbert back to his best in The Bronx

The result was an electric performance were Gilbert looked like the staff ace he was two seasons ago. He blanked the Yankees for 6.0 innings and in all truth looked like he could have gone further, as he only allowed four hits and one walk.

The Yankees’ best chance to score against Gilbert came when they got two men on base with just one out in the bottom of the third. Ultimately thought they were unable to capitalize, thanks in large part to a tremendous throw by Dominic Canzone from right field to Leo Rivas for the tag at second base and the second out. Ben Rice subsequently ground out to fist base, to end the threat and the inning.

Also helping Gilbert’s standout performance were a couple of timely ABS challenges in the bottom of the sixth. The two challenges turned a couple of called ball fours and potential walks by plate umpire Rob Drake into strikeouts. This contributed towards the 2024 All-Star ending his day with seven Ks and was part of four successful ABS challenges overall by Jhonny Pereda behind the plate.

We’ll readily admit part of the reason for wanting to see Gilbert go at least one more inning, was due to just how much the bullpen has struggled. Yes, it doesn’t help when you’re missing key relievers in Matt Brash, Carlos Vargas and Cooper Criswell through injury. Regardless, ranking 23rd in the majors since the beginning of June with a team ERA of 4.83 is an alarming statistic.

Mariners bullpen comes through this time around

On this occasion however, things turned out ideally for the Mariners, as the correct bullpen decisions by manager Dan Wilson were equalled by a trio of positive reliever performances. Eduard Bazardo overcame a couple of walks to get through the seventh unscathed, followed by Jose A. Ferrer pitching a perfect eighth. Andrés Muñoz then came in to close the deal with his 21st save of the season, as he continued to show he’s over his jitters and erratic form from earlier in the campaign.

Postgame, Gilbert was as relieved as he was happy with helping to end the losing streak. It didn’t matter that the lineup only managed one run; as far as he was concerned, this was a team win from top to bottom. As per Bill Ladson of MLB.com, he said:

“It felt like a big game, something we needed to win, especially on the road here as we face some tough teams. I felt pretty good. Everybody came through for me. Jhonny [Pereda] was great back there. He won [four ABS] challenges, which were huge.”

Dan Wilson praises the collective team effort, but particularly Gilbert

Wilson also spoke to the media postgame. He had plenty of praise for the pitching staff and was clearly pleased that the way he mapped the strategy out proved to be a success. He said:

“Quite a ball game. You don’t see one-to-nothing here very often and you’ve first got to tip your hat to the pitching today for us. Phenomenal. What Logan did there and then the bullpen coming in to slam the door late in the game. Logan getting us six and then seven, eight and nine in the bullpen, like we drew it up. A tremendous job there on the mound for sure.”

Wilson expanded on what Gilbert did specifically. He appreciated Gilbert’s ability to dominate while the Mariners lineup faced three-time All-Star lefty Max Fried, was significant. He said:

“I thought just making pitch after pitch, the execution of his pitches today, the quality of his pitches was outstanding. He just continued to go out and do it time and time again. [The Yankees] had a lot of left-handers like we talked about, but the split was going. The slider I thought particularly was acting like a split a lot of the time, it had such a sharp break on it. I just thought Logan was on top of his game and he’s going up against one of their better pitchers too, you know there’s no room for error. No margin for error, and being able to get this one here was big.”

Now facing a series the Mariners dare not lose

The Mariners now head to Houston for the (latest) pivotal series of the year. The Ms might have already won the head-to-head season series, but they are 5.0 games back of the Astros at the AL West summit and need to at least take two out of three, but realistically all three, to ignite their playoff challenge. Gilbert said:

“It’s a big deal, and it should be. That’s kind of how it was last year. Where we are in the standings, this is the team we want to be facing. If we get those wins and they also lose and we move up in the standings, it’s a big deal. This is a good opportunity for us.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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