CINCINNATI — The Mariners badly needed a stopper on the mound on Wednesday night, but some significant run support also made Logan Gilbert’s job that much easier in an 8-4 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
Gilbert carved through the Reds for nine strikeouts before running into some traffic that limited his outing to 5 1/3 innings, paving the way for a heavily taxed bullpen to reach the finish line with just one run allowed.
- Games remaining: at TB (4), vs. LAA (3), vs. LAD (3), at OAK (3), at TEX (3), vs. HOU (3), vs. TEX (4).
- Standings update: The Mariners (78-61) remain one game behind the Astros (80-61) for the AL West lead, with the Rangers (76-63) two games behind Seattle. The Mariners are in the second Wild Card position, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Blue Jays (77-63), with Texas half a game behind Toronto for the final spot.
It was an encouraging sign for a pitching staff that’s had its hiccups on this 2-4 road trip, but that group also had plenty of breathing room thanks to homers from J.P. Crawford, Cal Raleigh and Mike Ford, along with a productive night from Ty France, who drove in his first runs since Aug. 22.
With the Mariners having lost their grip on first place in the American League West the night prior, Wednesday’s turnaround was much-needed, especially with a four-game series looming against the Rays — the team directly ahead of Seattle in the AL Wild Card standings.
“You’re never comfortable here,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said of Cincinnati’s hitter-friendly environment. “That’s how I felt tonight. I know it’s how the whole staff felt. You come into the ballgame, you score enough runs to win the game. We needed to lock it down, and we did.”
The Mariners had an .879 OPS and slugged eight homers in this three-game series, underscoring that, despite losses in the first two contests, their offense has been mostly fine on what began as a disappointing road trip.
Which is what made Gilbert’s performance that much more vital, along with Matt Brash (who escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth), Gabe Speier, Justin Topa and Andrés Muñoz, who surrendered an inconsequential homer to Will Benson in the ninth, marking the bullpen’s lone run after entering play with a 6.61 ERA on the road trip.
“Everybody looks like they’re swinging the bat really well — I’m just trying to do my part and keep [the Reds] at bay,” said Gilbert, who has led Seattle to victory in 10 of his past 12 starts.
As for the offense, Raleigh reached base in each of his first four plate appearances, continuing a second half in which he’s quietly been one of MLB’s most productive players. Since the All-Star break, the backstop has a .926 OPS and 15 homers, trailing only six other players in the Majors.
Raleigh, who climbed to the No. 3 hole for the second straight night, has seen his role become even more magnified in the wake of Tom Murphy’s left thumb sprain, which has sidelined the veteran since Aug. 14. Raleigh has started 17 of Seattle’s 21 games since, with Brian O’Keefe, who is just 1-for-15, taking the other five.
“Every team has guys where you go, ‘Oh my god, if we ever lost that guy,’” Servais said of Raleigh. “Every team’s in that spot this time of year. Cal’s really valuable, really important to us with what he does with our pitchers, and obviously what he brings offensively.”
Meanwhile, Crawford now has 15 homers this year, extending a career high as part of a significant power uptick in the second half, during which he’s slugged .521 compared to .395 before the break. Wednesday’s was in a 2-2 count and a no-doubt, 382-foot blast off the bat. Entering play, Crawford’s 4.5 wins above replacement, per Baseball-Reference, were the most by a Mariners shortstop since Alex Rodriguez in 2000.
“I’m not surprised,” France said. “He’s a great baseball player and he’s always had it in him. But to see him hit 15 homers, especially out of the leadoff spot, it’s pretty cool. I know he worked his butt off this offseason.”
Speaking of France, he scored on Crawford’s homer after preceding with an RBI double that scored Eugenio Suárez all the way from first base to spark the five-run fourth inning. The first baseman also ripped a 105.1 mph single that drove in a key insurance run in the seventh.
But it was his 10-pitch walk in the second that was maybe his best plate appearance of the night, as it labored Cincy starter Lyon Richardson and was immediately followed by Ford’s 400-foot blast, his 16th of the year.
“The sooner we can get into teams’ bullpens, the better off we are,” France said. “It really takes all nine guys committing to one plan and kind of running with it. I feel like we’ve been doing that lately.”
