Mariners Breakdown: Looking back at an emphatic sweep

Aug 12, 2024, 12:30 AM | Updated: 12:39 am

Seattle Mariners victory dance sweep New York Mets 2024...

The Seattle Mariners celebrate after completing a sweep of the Mets on Sunday. (Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)

(Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)

BY CAMERON VAN TIL

Seattle Sports

At around 8:45 p.m. Thursday night, things were looking pretty dim for the Seattle Mariners.

Mariners activate Julio Rodríguez from IL, slot him at DH

Seattle was heading into the ninth inning of its series finale against the Detroit Tigers, on the verge of getting swept by one of the bottom-tier teams in the American League. Even worse, the Mariners’ hitting struggles had reemerged. Up until that point, they had mustered a total of just five runs in the three-game set.

In a span of less than 72 hours, Seattle completely flipped the script.

Mitch Haniger turned the tide shortly after 9 p.m. on Thursday night, delivering a walkoff three-run double to cap a stunning ninth-inning rally. The Mariners then rode that momentum into the weekend, outscoring the New York Mets 22-1 during a dominant three-game series sweep. By 6:52 p.m. Sunday evening, the M’s were suddenly riding a four-game win streak, having just clobbered the Mets 12-1 in T-Mobile Park’s first ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” game in two decades.

Keep in mind, this was the same Mets team that entered the weekend with an MLB-best 39-21 mark over their previous 60 games.

The Mariners are now 10-5 since they kicked off their trade-deadline acquisitions with the deal for slugging outfielder Randy Arozarena on July 25.

“Since we made the acquisitions there before the trade deadline, there’s just a different vibe in our clubhouse,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said postgame Sunday. “There’s a much more confident feel amongst our group. Even on the nights where we don’t ultimately get it done and get the win, there’s just a different feel with where we’re at right now.

“And that is a credit to our players – not just the guys that we acquired, but the guys that have been here all year. They’re playing, they’re going about it a little bit differently. And again, overall, it’s just a very confident group right now.”

Here’s a look back at the Mariners’ emphatic sweep and where things stand going forward.

Standings update

For Seattle, just about the only bad news this weekend was that the Houston Astros also pulled off a sweep, taking all three games against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. That means the Mariners (63-56) are still locked in a virtual tie with Houston (62-55) atop the AL West. The third-place Texas Rangers (55-63), meanwhile, fell 7.5 games back in the AL West race after dropping two of three to the New York Yankees this weekend.

Seattle is fourth in the AL wild-card race, sitting 2.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the third and final playoff spot.

A historic pitching weekend

Earlier this season, the Mariners’ starting rotation became the first in MLB since 1917 to allow two earned runs or fewer in 21 consecutive starts.

Their pitching staff accomplished another milestone this weekend.

Seattle limited the Mets to only one run over the entire series, matching a franchise record for the fewest runs allowed over a series of at least three games. The Mariners accomplished the feat two other times in franchise history, allowing one run in a three-game set against the Montreal Expos in 2004 and one run in a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds in 2010.

The fact that it came against the Mets was equally impressive. Heading into this series, New York had averaged 5.55 runs per game over its past 60 games, which ranked second in the majors over that span.

“(It’s) remarkable to do that against a pretty good offensive club,” Servais said. “… They’re established guys that have long-term contracts, that have done a lot of things in this league to earn those contracts. But it’s a credit to our pitching and being aggressive, being on the attack, getting your secondary pitches in play, not getting in bad counts. All those things have to add up.”

Bryce Miller kicked off the dominant pitching weekend with six scoreless innings of three-hit ball in Friday’s 6-0 win. It was the sixth time this season that Miller has had a scoreless outing of six-plus innings.

Logan Gilbert continued the pitching clinic Saturday, tossing seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball in a 4-0 victory. It lowered his ERA to 2.91, which ranks fourth in the AL. And it marked the 11th time in 24 starts this season that he’s allowed one run or fewer.

Luis Castillo then capped the weekend in style, striking out nine batters while limiting the Mets to one run in six innings. The 31-year-old ace struck out five consecutive batters at one point, including a viral moment when he sent Mets shortstop José Iglesias spiraling to the ground with a nasty sinker that cut in sharply on his hands. Castillo reached 1,300 career strikeouts during his outing, becoming one of just 24 active pitchers to achieve the milestone.

The final tally from Miller, Gilbert and Castillo this weekend: one run, 10 hits, 19 innings, 21 strikeouts and just four walks. The Mariners lowered their team ERA to an MLB-best 3.42, which is 0.30 better than any other team. Seattle also has an MLB-leading 73 quality starts, which are 12 more than any other club.

Bats break out

The Mariners exploded for a season-high 12 runs on Sunday, capping a productive series at the plate that saw them score at least four runs in all three games. They are now 26-8 this season when reaching the four-run mark.

Here are a few hitting highlights from the weekend:

• Cal Raleigh homered twice on Sunday to bring his season total to 26, which leads all MLB catchers. He became the first MLB catcher with three consecutive seasons of 25-plus homers since Mike Piazza accomplished the feat eight straight times from 1995 through 2002.

“When he’s up there, he’s hunting pitches,” Servais said. “He’s got all kinds of power. And if you make a mistake, leave the ball in his happy zone, we’re really happy, because good things happen, just because he’s got so much power.”

• Jorge Polanco went 3 for 5 with a homer and a double on Sunday. After a rough first half, the veteran second baseman is hitting .254 with six homers and four doubles in 19 games since the All-Star break.

“Polo looks outstanding right now,” Servais said. “He’s doing things in the batter’s box we haven’t seen him do all year.”

• Dominic Canzone doubled in each of his first two at-bats Sunday after returning from a four-week stint on the injured list.

• Rookie second baseman Ryan Bliss hit a two-run homer on Friday and rookie shortstop Leo Rivas added a two-run single later in the game, giving the Mariners four RBIs from the No. 8 and 9 hitters in their lineup that night.

Don’t forget about the web gems

As spectacular as the Mariners’ pitching was this weekend, they also received a few assists from their defense.

Polanco and Rivas turned a sensational double play that might have been the team’s web gem of the year. Polanco had another impressive play where he bare-handed a side-spinning ball and threw the batter out at first. And in the outfield, center fielder Víctor Robles and left fielder Randy Arozarena delivered full-extension diving catches.

“When you have pitchers that are working that quickly and throwing that many strikes, your defense is always on their toes,” Servais said. “And our guys played awesome defense here all weekend.”

Up next

The Mariners have an off day Monday before playing nine straight days on a three-city road trip against the Detroit Tigers (56-63), Pittsburgh Pirates (56-61) and Los Angeles Dodgers (69-49).

“We have a lot of big games ahead of us over the next six weeks,” Servais said. “And we will have streaks where we’ll win five, six, seven in a row and we’ll lose a couple. We just have to stick with the plan.

“And the plan is to lean on the pitching, have quality at-bats, trust the guy behind you and keep putting pressure on the opposition and things will break.”