Simply Seager, powerful Paxton. Mariners rally late for (you guessed it) a one-run win
Back to vintage 2018 Seattle Mariners.
It had been a week and a half since their last one-run victory or late-inning rally, and more than two weeks since James Paxton delivered dominance.
So they got back to what they seem to specialize in, this time against the Orioles on Tuesday in Baltimore.
James Paxton struck out 10 batters in seven innings, Kyle Seager drove in all three of the Mariners runs with a solo home run and an eighth-inning two-run single and the Mariners rallied for a 3-2 victory at Camden Yards for their second consecutive win.
This is the sixth time this season Paxton has fanned double-digit batters in a game. He entered this season with three such outings in his career.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"> <a href="https://t.co/CociIsTLWQ">pic.twitter.com/CociIsTLWQ</a></p>— Mariners (@Mariners) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mariners/status/1011767819413774336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
And, trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning, the Mariners loaded the bases on Dee Gordon’s leadoff double, Jean Segura’s bunt single and Mitch Haniger drew a walk.
So Seager simply lined to center field an 0-2 slider in the middle of the plate to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead.
“Seags came through,” Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters afterward. “Nice for him to have a good night for us. He was due for one of those.”
The Mariners (49-31) are now 44-0 when leading after the eighth inning. Alex Colome and Edwin Diaz, who earned his major-league leading 29th save, shut down Baltimore in the final innings for the second consecutive day.
That’s Seager’s third multi-hit game in his past six outings, but Servais had him batting cleanup on Tuesday after scratching Nelson Cruz from the lineup shortly before the game because of tightness in the recently named American League player of the week’s lower back.
“I think a couple of coaches really felt going into the game today that Seags was going to be our guy,” Servais said. “Nellie was a late scratch with the back-spasm thing and sometimes guys got to step up and the right guy at the right time tonight.”
Back to Diaz, though. Those 29 saves ties him with Kazuhiro Sasaki (2001) for the club record for most saves before the All-Star break, and the Mariners aren’t even though June yet. The All-Star game isn’t until July 15.
Diaz had 34 saves all of last season. He might get to that by the time he’s pitching in Washington, D.C., in his first All-Star Game.
Paxton was solid, but this was far from easy for the Ladner lefty.
He ran into trouble in the sixth inning. A lot it. The Orioles tagged him for three consecutive hits to load the bases with no outs for their best hitter, Manny Machado.
But Paxton got the three-time All-Star shortstop (and likely four-time by this time next month) to ground into a double play, though a run scored. Paxton escaped when he struck out former Mariners Danny Valencia, limiting Baltimore to the 2-1 lead.
Valencia was the first of four consecutive strikeouts for Paxton. He K’d the side in the seventh to push his game total to 10.
“(Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.) told me we might get Ornery Canuck tonight,” Servais said. “He came right after them right out of the chute. Good stuff early and I thought he was outstanding really all night.”
Paxton entered the day with 124 strikeouts, the fifth-most in the American League. With his sixth strikeout he became the fourth pitcher in Mariners history to reach 130 strikeouts before the All-Star break, joining Randy Johnson (five times), Felix Hernandez (four) and Mark Langston (two).
This came after being charged for six runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Red Sox and allowing four runs in the first inning against the Yankees in his past two starts.
The adjustment in this one?
“Just don’t think about it as much,” Paxton said. “I think when I start thinking about my delivery too much, I think I’m a guy who syncs up when I’m just throwing the pitch as hard as I can. So I got back to that tonight. I kept it simple and it worked out.”
The Orioles struck first. Valencia launched a solo home run against Paxton to lead off the second inning. Paxton was supposed to locate the ball inside, but he left it more in the middle of the plate for a 1-0 Orioles lead.
They had a 2-0 lead for a few moments.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">¡Mi gente, esto se EMPATÓ! Kyle Seager conecta su JONRONAZO #14 de la campaña. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LosMarineros?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LosMarineros</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TrueToTheBlue?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TrueToTheBlue</a> <a href="https://t.co/oLdjlCuTfv">pic.twitter.com/oLdjlCuTfv</a></p>— Marineros de Seattle (@LosMarineros) <a href="https://twitter.com/LosMarineros/status/1011764383423324160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Orioles’ Jonathan Schoop originally had been called safe when he dived past Mike Zunino into home plate, but Zunino jumped in disgust and Tim Beckham reached third base with Zunino preoccupied.
Still, he was right. The call overturned following a replay review and that ended the inning, limiting Baltimore to just the one run in the inning.
The Mariners tied it in the fourth when Seager sent a 2-1 splitter from Kevin Gausman over the right-field wall, Seager’s 14th home run of the season.
Servais was hopeful Cruz would be available to return for Wednesday’s game.
“Nellie has a way of getting over these things quickly,” Servais said.
Here's three takeaways:
Buenos Diaz
A hit allowed? No strikeouts? Who is this Mariners closer?
The only surprising thing about the Mariners holding on to their 3-2 lead against the Orioles’ 3-6 hitters was that Edwin Diaz didn’t make it look easier. He still earned his 29th save of the season.
Last year he had 34 saves, which was the fourth-most in the American League. The Yankees’ Aroldis Chapman was next in the majors in saves this season behind Diaz entering Tuesday – with 23.
Diaz also entered the day with 66 strikeouts, which trailed only the Brewers’ Josh Hader (80) for most strikeouts by a reliever in the major leagues.
The Mariners are now 37-0 when Diaz enters the game with a lead and he’s 18-for-20 in one-run save opportunities.
Segura’s return
Jean Segura reached base twice on Monday but didn’t have any base hits in his first game back from the infection in his right forearm.
He went 3-for-4 on Tuesday and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning on Kyle Seager’s two-run single. He pushed his batting average to .337.
Segura entered this week fifth in the All-Star voting among American League shortstops, with the Orioles Manny Machado atop that list. Machado went 0-for-4 and is batting .301.
Simply Seager
Kyle Seager hit his 14th home run of the season, but it had to feel awful lonely without Nelson Cruz to leap into.
Seager was batting cleanup on Tuesday because Cruz was scratched from the lineup about an hour before the game because of tightness in his lower back.
“We did talk about that,” Seager told Root Sports afterward. “I told Nelson it just wasn’t the same.”
Seager then sent an 0-2, middle-of-the-plate slider in the eighth inning for a two-run single into center field to give the Mariners a 3-2 lead.
That’s his third multi-hit game in his past six games, but he’s still batting .225, which would be a career low if he keeps that up for the entire season.
But he is right on pace with his power numbers. He’s on pace for a career high in doubles, with 19 so far, he now has 14 home runs with a few weeks remaining before the All-Star break (his career-high is 30).
Play of the game
Kyle Seager got a slider a little high in the strike zone and he lined it into center field for a two-run single, giving the Mariners the lead in the top of the eighth inning.
But what set that up – Mitch Haniger’s walk the batter before. Haniger was down 1-2 in the count, fouled off a couple inside sliders and eventually drew the eight-pitch walk.
“When you hit three-four-five hole in the big leagues, you have to have that inner grind in you,” Servais said. “That guy (Orioles left-hander Tanner Scott) has a really hard slider, bearing in on a right-hander. Laying off those pitches to get the walk – a lot of fight. A lot of fight in all our guys.”
Top batter
Might as well change the score to Kyle Seager 3, Orioles 2. Seager drove in all three of the Mariners runs, first on a solo home run and then the go-ahead single in the eighth with no outs and the bases loaded.
“Just trying not to strike out at that point,” Seager said. “Just trying to put the ball in play and hope something good happens.”
Top pitcher
James Paxton allowed six hits and allowed two runs in seven innings, including a home run against former Mariner Danny Valencia, but he also struck out 10 batters, which is the sixth time this season he’s had double-digit strikeouts.
Paxton seemed set to head out for the eighth inning, but with the Mariners taking the lead and the Orioles extending the inning using two relievers in the top half of the frame, the Mariners chose to bring in right-hander Alex Colome for the second consecutive night, instead.
“Skip came up to me and said it was taking a while and they were going with their second pitcher of the inning. He said it was too long and he didn’t want me to go out there cold and hurt myself,” Paxton said.
But Kevin Gausman was solid for the Orioles, allowing one run and five hits in six innings. Darren O’Day took the loss.
Quotable
“This is a good group. It had a feel like we were going to end up coming back and we were going to score some runs,” Seager said. “There was never a doubt in the dugout.”
On tap
Mariners left-hander Wade LeBlanc (3-0, 3.26 ERA) goes against Orioles right-hander Alex Cobb (2-9, 6.56 ERA) on Wednesday at 4:05 p.m. The game will broadcast on Root Sports and 710-AM.
TJ Cotterill: 253-597-8677
Twitter: @TJCotterill
This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 6:49 PM.