Logan Gilbert, late home runs power Mariners past Padres
SAN DIEGO – If no one was going to ask him, Scott Servais was going to say it because it needed to be said for someone – or everyone – to hear, including his players.
In the middle of answering a question about the pregame roster moves and how it might help the team, Servais said, “The biggest thing for us is we need to get back to playing good baseball. It starts here.”
Was it a statement of certainty or hope?
Regardless, the Mariners produced one of their best all-around performances in recent weeks, finding success in every aspect of the game to get a 4-1 win over the Padres on Tuesday.
Logan Gilbert delivered a solid start, Teoscar Hernandez and Julio Rodriguez hit home runs and Andres Munoz announced his return with an inning of dominance as Seattle snapped a three-game losing streak.
After giving up seven runs on seven hits to the Yankees in his worst outing of the season, Gilbert bounced back in dominating fashion. He pitched seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
The lone run allowed came in the third inning when Rougned Odor bounced a double over the wall in right-center and later scored on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s ground out to first.
Gilbert allowed just two base runners over the next four innings.
Using a heavy mix of four-seam fastballs and improved sliders, he kept the Padres hitters off balance.
He ran into a spot of trouble in the sixth, allowing a double to Tatis . With two outs, he pitched around Manny Machado with first base open, walking him instead of giving him something to drive. He ended the inning by feeding Gary Sanchez a steady diet of sliders, getting a strikeout swinging.
With lefty Gabe Speier ready to pitch if a runner reached base in the seventh, Gilbert didn’t let him get into the game. He got Jake Cronenworth to ground out to second and struck out Brandon Dixon and Odor to end the inning with a scream and a fist pump.
The Mariners didn’t provide much run support for Gilbert against Padres starter Joe Musgrove. Ty France provided a brief 1-0 lead in the top of the third, singling up the middle to score J.P. Crawford.
And even though they struck out eight times in five innings, they managed to get Musgrove to 100 pitches over that span, forcing him out of the game.
It meant a shaky Padres bullpen would need to cover the final four innings, which was good news for Seattle.
Hernandez provided the Mariners a lead they didn’t relinquish, hitting a solo homer to dead center with two outs in the sixth inning.
Rodriguez hit a solo homer into the upper deck in left field and Hernandez added an RBI single later in the inning.
Reinstated from the injured list before the game, Munoz worked a scoreless eighth with a pair of strikeouts.