By Paul Taylor Posted on

Mariners: 3 takeaways from surprising series win vs. Phillies

Delving into some of the key aspects, from a series in which the Mariners showed what they’re still capable of against quality opponents.

There were plenty of understandable nerves ahead of the home series versus the Phillies, who were on a run of nine consecutive wins. Additionally, as impressive as winning the previous series against the Cubs was, it ended with a sour-tasting 19-2 beatdown in Sunday’s finale. In the end though, the Mariners concluded the homestand with another series win, taking the first two games before dropping Wednesday’s finale.

In a prime example of perception being reality, on the one hand the Mariners are still six games under .500 and fell back to 4.0 games behind the final AL wild card spot during the Phillies series. On the other hand however, they’ve now won three of four series and crawled to within 2.5 games of the Astros at the top of the division. Let’s get to our three takeaways from the three-game set versus the Phillies:

1) Hitting like it’s 2025 and then some

Cal Raleigh is the first to admit this year has been an absolute nightmare for him. From what happened during the World Baseball Classic, to attempting to play through his left oblique injury, to just outright not being able to hit the ball with any consistency. The result was that he entered this Phillies series batting .159 with a .579 OPS and 73 wRC+.

At the heart of this was only accruing 14 home runs one season after a record-breaking 60, but on Monday night Raleigh had a performance which left a much more positive imprint on the record books. It all started with a two-run blast in the bottom of the first, to give the Mariners a commanding 5-1 advantage. He then followed this up with a solo bomb in the bottom of the fifth, to make it 7-2 to the good guys. As if this wasn’t enough, the 2025 Silver Slugger then went yard once again in the bottom of the seventh, to finish the scoring in an impressive 9-2 win.

For Raleigh, it was the first time he hit three home runs in his Major League career, doubling as the first ever Mariner to achieve this feat at T-Mobile Park. The only other player to do it was Victor Martinez, for Cleveland back in 2004 at the then-Safeco Field. The M’s catcher is also just the 13th player in franchise history with three homers in a game, including Mike Cameron as the only one to hit four.

Raleigh continued his hot streak into Tuesday night, hitting a solo bomb in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 1-1. It was his fourth straight at-bat with a homer, a run which included a fifth plate appearance which resulted in a walk. It’s too soon to say he’s back, with him going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in the series finale but now, more than ever, there’s hope that he’s going to provide a positive impact in the lineup for the remainder of the season.

2) That’s more like it from George

As with Raleigh, this has been a frustrating and disappointing season for George Kirby. However, where it has differed from his catcher, is in the erratic nature of Kirby’s performances. One minute he’s throwing seven scoreless innings, the next he’s been shelled for six runs in the opening inning.

Fortunately for the Mariners and their fans, they saw the former on Tuesday night, as the best version of Kirby returned with a vengeance. Unfazed by facing a dangerous Phillies lineup, he powered through them, only allowing six hits, a walk and — most importantly — just one run in 7.2 innings. About the only time he got frustrated was when he was taken out, as he wanted to complete the eighth inning.

Ultimately. what mattered most was that the 2023 All-Star delivered when the Mariners needed him to, helping the team clinch the series with a game to spare. There were plenty of factors which went into delivering his tremendous start, including returning to his splitfinger fastball. He felt it was important to get it back into his pitching arsenal, and the results more than justified this intent.

Of course this is all very well, but what the Mariners now need from Kirby moving forward is more consistency. As much as no one denies his ceiling as a staff ace, he needs to show more of his control and command which has been called the best in the majors among all starters. Fans will be hoping Tuesday night signals the return of the old Kirby, because that version is capable of helping lead this team to the playoffs and beyond.

3) Mariners need to stick to a five-man rotation

As much as the official line was that everyone was on board with the piggyback situation and a six-man rotation, you know deep down at least some of the starters felt otherwise. As much as it was a positive problem to have with an abundance of quality options, it was still a problem nonetheless. It was rectified for the short-term when Luis Castillo was traded to the White Sox, but Kade Anderson’s callup has now brought us back to a similar situation.

As far as we’re concerned, the Mariners need to stick with a five-man rotation, fuelled by not putting an extra burden on a bullpen which is struggling greatly as it is. They are second-worst in the majors in team ERA since the beginning of June, not helped by key injury absences and erratic displays by the likes of Gabe Speier, Eduard Bazardo and Andrés Muñoz. The last thing they need is also having to deal with being a man short, which is what would happen with a six-man rotation.

Based on Bryce Miller’s shocking run of a 7.19 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in his past eight starts — all losses for the Mariners — we believed he should be the prime candidate to move to the bullpen. And when he ended up walking to the bullpen with Muñoz during Wednesday’s series finale, many wondered if this was a sign of things to come? However, postgame Miller said he was asked to be an emergency cover just in case, due to Bryan Woo making his first start in 10 days, combined with the M’s having a short-staffed bullpen on the day.

In this respect, Woo had a rare bad outing at home and it left people wondering if it was just a one-off, or alluding to not being completely recovered from his shoulder discomfort? It all points towards plenty of uncertainty at the moment, due to a combination of bad form, inconsistent pitching and injury concerns. Ultimately, the best way to help make things more certain is for the Mariners to confirm they’re going to stick with a five-man rotation, as now is not the time to let any individual egos get in the way of the pursuit of a playoff spot.

Photos court​‌esy of Tim Rogers Photography

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