For an almost perfect summer evening in Seattle — the pleasant kind of night that people outside of the area can’t comprehend — all was right and comfortably familiar for the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
On a day that featured more roster chaos due to nagging injuries, including Randy Arozarena being placed on the 10-day injured list an hour before first pitch with a hamstring strain and Luke Raley (back tightness) and Josh Naylor (wrist soreness) out of the lineup, the Mariners’ patchwork lineup did just enough to pull out a 3-1 victory.
The “odd couple” duo of Logan Gilbert and Cal Raleigh — once minor-league roommates and now cornerstone players — offered a reassuring reminder of what they mean to the franchise.
Gilbert delivered one of his best outings of the season, working seven innings and allowing just one run on two hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Raleigh, who was activated from the injured list prior to the game, broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning with a bases-loaded single to put the Mariners up for good.
The Mariners have won many a game with that combination of performances from Gilbert and Raleigh. And they will need more in the weeks ahead as Seattle tries to navigate through a rash of injuries — some minor and some major — while trying to maintain their lead atop the American League West.
A boisterous crowd of 27,396 welcomed the Mariners back from an injury-riddled 10-game road trip that featured a suboptimal 4-6 record. They were rewarded with a crisp, well-pitched game that last just 2 hours, 18 minutes.
Gilbert’s lone run allowed came in the first inning. He allowed a leadoff double to Taylor Ward that bounced off the top of the wall and remained in the park largely due to a nice breeze blowing in from left field. It looked like Gilbert might get out of the inning without allowing a run when he struck out Gunnar Henderson and got Adley Rutschman to ground out to first.
But after walking Pete Alonso with two outs, he gave up a single to Samuel Basallo to right field. He retired the next 16 hitters in a row before hitting Alonso with a pitch. He came back to retire the next three batters to close out the seventh and walk off the field to a standing ovation.
Eduard Bazardo worked a scoreless eighth and Andres Muñoz, who was forced out of the game in his last outing due to back tightness, showed no effects from it, closing out the game with a scoreless ninth.