7/3/23

Mariners 6, Giants 5

(San Francisco, CA) The Seattle Mariners began a seven-game road trip to close out the first half of the season on Monday night and first up was a three-game series with the San Francisco Giants. Coming off a big series win over the Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle looked to carry that momentum into a strong finish to the first half of the season. A strong finish is exactly what Monday’s game would have as a combined seven runs were scored in the 9th inning but the Mariners would come out the other side with a 6-5 win.

Both teams had some hard hit balls turn into outs and left some runners in scoring position as Bryan Woo and Logan Webb traded zeros thru the first three innings. The M’s would catch a break in the top of the 4th. Singles by Teoscar Hernandez and Eugenio Suarez were followed by a Mike Ford walk to load the bases with one out. Dylan Moore than found himself in a big at-bat but he didn’t need to swing the bat to get the Mariners on the board. Logan Webb lost a changeup in the dirt and it would kick away from catcher Blake Sabol. Hernandez would come into score to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead. It looked like Seattle would add on as Kolten Wong hit a missile but first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. made a fantastic diving catch to rob Wong of a hit and end the inning.

In the bottom of the 4th, Bryan Woo began the inning with a walk to Michael Conforto. That walked seemed to be harmless as Woo retired the next two batters to bring up Blake Sabol. Behind in the count 1-2, Sabol chased a fastball up above the zone but drove it to straightaway center field and out of the park for his ninth home run of his rookie season. The two-run shot also gave Webb and the Giants a 2-1 lead.

Both Woo and Webb were fantastic and both were deserving of a W on their record. Neither would get it as Woo was done after six innings of really good pitching against the team he used to root for growing up in the area. The Mariner offense helped him avoid a loss. In the top of the 7th, Kolten Wong reached with a single and on another perfectly executed hit and run, Wong would reach third on a J.P. Crawford single. With one out, it looked like Seattle might have disaster strike. Julio Rodriguez hit a grounder to short for what looked like could be an inning-ending double play. J-Rod would flash the wheels however and beat out the throw to first to give him an RBI as Wong scored to tie the game at 2-2.

With both starters out of the game, it was a battle of bullpens. Neither team could manage a baserunner again until the top of the 9th. San Francisco went to their All-Star closer Camilo Doval to try to put them in position to walk it off. Mike Ford had other ideas to start the inning as he reached with a single before Jose Caballero pinch ran for Ford and chaos ensued. Caballero would steal second with Ty France pinch hitting for Dylan Moore. France would be hit by a pitch that was reviewed but the call would stand to give Seattle runners on first and second with nobody out. Kolten Wong tried to get down a bunt but it wasn’t necessary. Caballero swiped third base as well to put runners on the corners and bring the Giants infield in to try to cut down the run. Wong would chop one over to Wade at first and it looked like they had Caballero caught in no man’s land. The throw to third would be late though as Caballero snuck a hand in to give the Mariners a bases loaded opportunity with nobody out.

Now this situation usually gives fans a ton of confidence but Seattle fans are the exception especially this season. The team would give the fans a reason to be confident in these situations once again. J.P. Crawford drove a ball to deep right field which was caught but allowed Caballero to score and moved Ty France to third with the Mariners now ahead 3-2. They weren’t done. Julio Rodriguez turned his good day into a big day with a line drive down the left field line and into the corner. France and Wong both scored on J-Rod’s 16th double of the year and the Mariners had opened up the lead to 5-2. Teoscar Hernandez would follow up Julio’s steal of third and drove in Rodriguez with an RBI single to make it 6-2 going into the bottom of the 9th.

For the third straight day, it was Paul Sewald in to pitch the 9th. A J.D. Davis double and Mike Yastrzemski single put runners on the corners but a strikeout of Luis Matos put the Giants down to their final out. Then things got intense. Blake Sabol turned an 0-2 count into a 3-2 count and made things very interesting. Sabol launched his second home run of the game and 10th of the season out to center field to make it just a one run game at 6-5. A pinch hit single by Wilmer Flores brought the winning run to the plate for San Francisco in Giant legend Brandon Crawford. A fastball right down the middle was swung on and missed by Crawford for strike three as Sewald let out a long sigh of relief along with the rest of the Pacific Northwest as Seattle hung on for the 6-5 win.

With the 4th of July tomorrow, the teams will play a day game for the second game of the series. For Seattle (41-42) it will be Logan Gilbert (5-5, 4.19 ERA) getting the start. Gilbert got off to a rough start last time out against Washington before settling down in a loss to Washington. The San Francisco Giants (46-39) will go with Keaton Winn (0-1, 3.50 ERA) in his second career start. In his first career start, Winn recorded a quality start in a losing effort to Toronto.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Julio Rodriguez- 1-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R
• Teoscar Hernandez- 2-5, RBI, R
• Bryan Woo (ND)- 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO

Giants

• Blake Sabol- 2-4, 2 HRs, 5 RBI, 2 R
• J.D. Davis- 1-4, 2B, R
• Logan Webb (ND)- 6.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO

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