Logan Gilbert slapped around early as Mariners drop series finale to Twins

MINNESOTA – In the almost impossible search for positives following Thursday afternoon’s 11-1 drubbing by the Twins, perhaps the most redeeming aspect was the game starting an hour earlier than most getaway games.

Why was that a positive?

It meant that the abysmal four-game series at Target Field, in which the Mariners dropped three of the games, and looked quite flawed in doing so, at least ended an hour earlier. Not that many fans back in the Pacific Northwest were watching or listening when Leo Rivas made the final out to end the 2-hour, 39-minute clunker.

“We didn’t deserve to even be in the game,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “We didn’t play a good game, obviously. Really, it was all series. The Twins outplayed us. They did. They swung the bat better, they pitched better, they executed better. Not much to say, other than they beat us bad in this game.”

Realistically, the outcome was decided when Logan Gilbert, the Mariners’ best starter in the 2024 season, gave up five runs in the bottom of the first.

While teams can and have overcome five-run deficits over eight innings, there was nothing about Gilbert’s early command or results that indicated the Twins wouldn’t score more runs off him or off the relievers that would be brought in to mop up excessive innings.

It also meant that the Mariners’ strikeout-laden offense would need to score an inordinate amount of runs against the Twins’ best starter, Pablo Lopez, which seemed unlikely.

The Mariners have been so reliant on high-level outings from their starters that it’s glaring when a pitcher such as Gilbert doesn’t provide at least a quality start. And when a starter struggles, well, it’s unnerving to the point of panic.

“The key for us has been our starting pitching,” Servais said. “It keeps us in the game, keeps the game tight and we find a way to win those games late. We did not do that today. They got rolling and we couldn’t stop it.”

The Mariners expected Gilbert to put a stop to the inconsistency and poor play with another strong start. He came into the game with a 3-0 record and 1.69 ERA – the lowest in the American League – in his seven previous starts. In all seven outings, he had pitched into the sixth inning and hadn’t allowed more than four runs or five hits. In six of his starts, he allowed two runs or fewer.

The Twins needed just one inning to change those numbers.

All nine hitters in Minnesota’s lineup came to bat in the first inning and Gilbert needed 36 pitches to finish it.

It started off dubiously with a four-pitch walk to Twins leadoff hitter Edouard Julien. Gilbert got Ryan Jeffers to pop out to second for the first out of the inning. With minimal command of his pitches, the Twins pounced on pitches left in the middle of the plate.

Trevor Larnach ripped a hard single to center and Max Kepler scored Julien with a crisp single to right field. Gilbert got a tough break when Jose Miranda hit a check-swing bunt that turned into an infield single and loaded the bases.

“I was a little out of sync it felt like at the beginning,” Gilbert said. “I had the four-pitch walk to start the game. I just wasn’t really executing like I needed to. I felt like I was throwing two-strike edge pitches early in the count and then late in the count with two strikes throwing them over the middle of the plate.”

When Willi Castro popped out to foul territory without a run scoring for the second out, it looked like Gilbert might escape the inning with minimal damage.

All he had to do was retire Manuel Margot, who came into the game hitting .167 with a double, a homer, three RBI and 17 strikeouts in 67 at-bats. An 0-1 splitter hung in the strike zone, and Margot rippled it past Urias at third base for a bases-clearing double and a 4-0 lead.

“I don’t think that (splitter) had a ton of depth,” Gilbert said. “Sometimes it can be tricky with starting point on a splitter because if it has good depth it gets to the right spot. If it doesn’t have that depth it stays up because it doesn’t have as much break. If I execute that, it could be a different story. But I’ve got to do a better job, especially in the first, just to give us a chance to stay in the game.”

Former Mariner Carlos Santana kept the inning going with a hard single to right field to score Margot and make it 5-0.

With the suboptimal start to his outing, Gilbert tried to pitch as long as possible while not allowing more runs. Ryan Jeffers smashed a solo homer on a 1-2 cutter that stayed up and over the middle of the plate. The Twins added more runs in fourth inning.

Gilbert’s final line: four innings, eight runs allowed on nine hits with two walks and four strikeouts. His ERA went from 1.69 to 2.94 in the one outing.

“In a game like this, you just try to stay in the game as long as you can and give us a chance to hopefully claw back,” he said. “But I just wasn’t able to do it. It’s frustrating. Even after the first inning, I have a job to do. I want to go as deep as I can and try to make up for a long first inning, but I just never really found it.”

Lopez, a one-time Mariners prospect who was traded to the Marlins in 2017 along with three other minor leaguers for reliever David Phelps, struck out 10 batters and allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings.

His run allowed came in the second inning when Luke Raley singled to right field to score Mitch Haniger.

The Mariners managed six hits while striking out 15 times, which tied a season high. It was the 26th time they’ve struck out 10 times or more in a game. They have a 13-13 record in those games. But in 12 of those wins, the pitching allowed three runs or fewer. The Mariners, who came into the series striking out more than any other team, added 53 more over four games to that total. They have 399 on the season with Boston second at 369.

“It’s been inconsistent,” Haniger said of the offense. “And I think for every guy, it’s a little bit different than trying to bucket the entire offense into one category.”

And the strikeouts?

“I think one through nine (in the lineup) there’s only a couple of guys that would tell you that they’re really happy with how things have gone for them this year,” Haniger said. “Unfortunately for over a month now, the majority of the lineup has struggled together. That’s why runs haven’t been at a premium for us. I think it’s only a matter of time before we get going, but at the same time it’s not an excuse. We need to pick it up.”