7/30/23

Mariners 4, Diamondbacks 0

(Phoenix, AZ) With only days left before the trade deadline, the Seattle Mariners headed into the rubber game of their three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks with more questions than answers. A year after making a big splash in acquiring Luis Castillo, the 2023 Mariners still did not have an answer to whether they would buy or sell at this year’s deadline. A win on Sunday and they might stand pat or add a piece. A loss, and a handful of players would likely be shipped to new locations and teams. It was fitting however that a year after being traded, Luis Castillo made the start on Sunday for the big game and he delivered a big performance in a shutout win over Arizona.

Arizona had one of their top starters in the mound as well on Sunday in Merrill Kelly. While Kelly got much better after the 1st inning, the damage had been done by the Seattle offense early. A walk for J.P. Crawford led off the inning before he moved up to second on a Julio Rodriguez single. Eugenio Suarez and Cal Raleigh were then retired for the first two outs. Teoscar Hernandez then loaded the bases with a single but with two outs the pressure was really on Mike Ford. The Mariner DH would not have to take the bat off of his shoulder as he drew a four-pitch walk to score Crawford and make it 1-0 M’s. Ty France added on with a grounder into left to move everyone up 90-feet, scoring Julio and making it 2-0 after an inning.

J.P. Crawford is in the middle of one of the best seasons of his career. The former gold glove winner has been an on-base machine at the top of the order but on Sunday he flexed some of his power as well. In the top of the 2nd, Crawford pulled his hands inside a below average fastball and sent it into the right field stands for his ninth home run of the season. The lead grew a bit more for Seattle as the scoreboard read 3-0.

La Piedra was dealing on Sunday with few D-Backs ever reaching base. Three runs were more than enough for Luis Castillo as only five batters reached base for Arizona and only two of them got on with a hit in Castillo’s six innings of work. Castillo would get Dominic Canzone to line into two double plays on the right side of the infield to erase a hit batter and a J.P. Crawford error in his outing as well. Only once did the Diamondbacks have multiple runners on base at the same time and that came in the bottom of the 3rd where Castillo struck out three batters including Corbin Carroll to end the only real threat Arizona mustered all day. When all was said and done, Castillo went six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk with a hit batter and seven strikeouts. It was the anniversary day for the Castillo and Mariners marriage and Castillo gave the M’s quite a gift with his great start.

Merrill Kelly also settled down after throwing 41 pitches in the first inning. The bullpen for the Diamondbacks was solid as well except for one hiccup in the top of the 9th. Facing Cole Sulser out of the bullpen, J.P. Crawford gave him a rough welcome to the game with his 25th double of the season and second extra-base hit of the game. Julio lined out to second for the first out but Eugenio Suarez found his second hit of the game to follow. Suarez served one into center field that could not be run down by Corbin Carroll. Crawford would beat the throw to score and add on one more insurance run, making it 4-0.

Justin Topa and Matt Brash only allowed one baserunner in the 7th and 8th combined and the extra run made it a non-save situation which let the lefty Tayler Saucedo get some work in the bottom of the 9th. This was the best Saucedo has looked arguably all season as a quick three-pitch strikeout of Ketel Marte began the inning. He then got Carroll to ground out right back to him and slammed the door on the win with another three-pitch strikeout of Christian Walker. The final inning was as dominant as any other for the Mariner pitching staff as the M’s earned the win 4-0 to take two out of three from the D-Backs.

With everyone constantly refreshing social media pages as the deadline looms, Seattle (54-51) can’t be too focused on the trade speculation as they look for their fourth straight series win when the begin a tough homestand with the Boston Red Sox (56-49) coming to town for a three-game series beginning Monday at 6:40pm. Another Mariner All-Star will get a chance to face his childhood nemesis when the New Yorker George Kirby (9-8, 3.49 ERA) faces the Red Sox in game one. Kirby will face another playoff contender after having mixed results against Minnesota in his last two starts, but was bailed out by the offense in his rough outing in Minnesota in his last time out. Nick Pivetta (7-5, 4.41 ERA) will go for Boston in the opener. Pivetta is enjoying a career month, allowing just nine hits and four runs in 21 innings in July with 33 strikeouts.

Matt’s Takeaways

Well here we are. 24 hours away from the trade deadline, the Mariners are playing some of their best baseball of the season and nothing has happened. We know that the M’s are listening to offers on Teoscar Hernandez, Paul Sewald, Ty France, and Logan Gilbert. It feels like the likelihood of a Logan Gilbert trade is fading. In a weak starter market, the asking price is and should be high for a controllable, young, proven MLB starter. I do think the most likely guy to move is Paul Sewald. There is also a weak closer market and Sewald has been lights out this year and could net a solid return. Guys like Teoscar Hernandez and Ty France are about 50/50 if they move or not. Right handed hitters are in need and those two guys are dangerous bats that will help any team. There is also a chance that nothing changes for the M’s. There is so much fog surrounding what the Mariners could do and there is no correct answer on what they should do. I have never seen this team in a position to where they could buy, sell, or stay where they are at. I really don’t know what will happen. All I know is that we are 24 hours from finding out. Expect the unexpected is the only advice I can give as the M’s prepare for another massive series with a team ahead of them in the playoff race.

Notable Performances

Mariners

• Luis Castillo (W, 7-7)- 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO
• J.P. Crawford- 2-3, 2B, HR, RBI, 3 R, 2 BB
• Ty France- 3-4, RBI

Diamondbacks

• Emmanuel Rivera- 1-2, BB
• Lourdes Gurriel Jr.- 1-3
• Merrill Kelly (L, 9-5)- 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

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