Mariners sweep Nationals in doubleheader to run win streak to 10 games
WASHINGTON – The circumstances weren’t ideal. The decision-making that went into the timing of the day left them a little peeved. The repercussions likely won’t be felt so much Thursday when they play the Rangers in Texas, but probably will be Friday or Saturday because that’s how heavy bullpen usage and lack of sleep works.
But winning makes everything easier to endure.
Despite the unwanted inconvenience of Wednesday’s split doubleheader in the mid-Atlantic heat and later-than-wanted travel to Dallas-Fort Worth, the Mariners leave the nation’s capital having swept the Nationals in the two-game series with businesslike execution.
After rolling to a 6-4 victory that only got close in the final inning of the opening game, the Mariners completed the sweep by hanging on for a 2-1 win in the sparsely attended nightcap at Nationals Park.
“We will sleep well tonight,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “That’s a long day of baseball, and I can’t say enough how proud I am of our guys today with way they competed all day long. It’s hard to sweep a doubleheader. It really is. You need a lot of things to go your way.”
Their win streak has reached double digits at 10 games. It’s just the fourth time in franchise history that the Mariners have put together a winning streak of 10 games or more. The last time was in 2002 (April 8-17). The other two times were a 10-game streak in 1996 (Sept. 12-21) and a 15-game winning streak in 2001 (May 23-June 8).
“It’s hard to win 10 games in a row,” Servais said. “I give a ton of credit to our guys.”
Since June 19, when a lackluster 4-0 loss capped a dreadful 3-8 homestand, dropping them 29-39 and leaving fans clamoring for somebody, anybody to lose their job, the Mariners have won 18 of their past 21 games to improve to 47-42. The last time they were five games over .500 was on April 26 when Logan Gilbert beat the Rays to improve the Mariners’ record to 11-6.
Even with as well as they’ve been playing since and just how awful the Nationals are this season, sweeping the doubleheader wasn’t a given even after winning the opening game.
Given the heat and the late-night flight into Texas, it would’ve been easy for a lapse in focus. But these M’s don’t want to give away games, innings on the mound, outs in the field or at-bats.
“We can’t afford to give anything away understanding where we’re at in our season and our turnaround here,” Servais said.
With George Kirby optioned to Tacoma to control his workload, the Mariners went with a bullpen start for his turn in the rotation, featuring Erik Swanson as the starter in the nightcap.
Four relievers – Swanson pitching two scoreless innings, veteran lefty Tommy Milone followed with 3⅓ shutout innings and Matt Brash and Diego Castillo combined to hold the Nationals without a run for 2⅔ – allowed the Mariners to take a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning.
The Mariners called on right-hander Paul Sewald, who got the save in the opening game, to close out the nightcap. After giving a mammoth solo homer to Juan Soto, Sewald worked the rest of the inning without allowing a run to notch his second save of the day and 12th on the season.
With Julio Rodriguez serving his reduced one-game suspension in the opener, Seattle got another quality start from right-hander Chris Flexen and homers from Eugenio Suarez, Jesse Winker, Adam Frazier and Cal Raleigh to roll to a 6-4 win.
Suarez crushed a three-run homer off Nats starter Josiah Gray in the first inning for an early lead. Winker smashed a solo homer to deep right field to start the fourth. Frazier pulled a homer into the right-field seats later in the inning. Raleigh’s 12th homer of the season – a solo blast to right field – made it 6-1.
Flexen pitched six innings, allowing one run on six hits with two walks and a strikeout.