Gilbert’s “best stuff of the season” fades in fourth inning, Mariners drop another series
For three innings, it appeared that 16,387 fans in attendance at T-Mobile Park for a Wednesday matinee were in store for an ace-like outing from Logan Gilbert.
A perfect first and third inning bookended a scoreless second, the only baserunner for the visiting Phillies reaching on a second-inning walk. It took Gilbert 51 pitches to complete the trio of frames, despite having worked a no-hitter.
But that’s where the 25-year-old, undoubtedly in the best stretch of his young career, hit a roadblock. The fourth inning turned ugly when Gilbert walked two batters and allowed his first hit of the game to Alec Bohm.
Once Philadelphia loaded the bases, it got uglier.
Rhys Hoskins turned on a 95-mph fastball and kept it inside the left-field pole for a one-out grand slam. Seattle’s one-run lead shifted into a three-run deficit on one swing, and the Phillies held on to win, 4-2. The Mariners have yet to win a series since a three-game sweep of the Royals from April 22-24.
Still, Gilbert whiffed the next two batters to end the inning, and struck out another pair in the fifth. He tied his career high in strikeouts with nine, and generated 14 swing-and-misses, which led the game.
“That’s just called (being) pissed off,” manager Scott Servais said. “He was frustrated with himself. He knows he had really good stuff today, and to let it slip away from him in that inning was disappointing.”
Gilbert’s final line: five innings, three hits, four runs (all earned), three walks, and nine strikeouts. Servais thought his starter had his best stuff all season, despite recording his first loss. Gilbert agreed.
“I felt it in the bullpen,” he told reporters after the game. “I had everything going.”
In the opening 32 games of the early season, no pitcher in Seattle’s rotation has been better than Gilbert.
In April, no pitcher in the American League was better.
Gilbert’s 3-0 record in April – and league-best 0.40 ERA – earned him AL Pitcher of the Month honors. On Wednesday, ten of Gilbert’s 14 whiffs came on his fastball, but three more came on his changeup and another Phillies hitter whiffed on a knuckle curve.
“It was probably the best I’ve felt going into a game,” Gilbert said.
Friday marks the one-year anniversary of Gilbert’s major league debut. Even if then-24-year-old shared the spotlight with Jarred Kelenic, who made his long-awaited arrival with the club on the same night, fans caught their first glimpse of Seattle’s first-round draft selection in 2018.
Gilbert lasted four innings against Cleveland last May 13 and allowed four runs, similar to Wednesday’s appearance. He’d go on to post a 6-5 record and 4.68 ERA in 2021, but developed a reliance on his fastball, Servais said. Despite steady improvement throughout last season, Gilbert knew he’d need to sharpen his secondary pitches to keep hitters guessing, particularly when the 6-foot-6 right-hander fell behind in counts.
“When you have only one tool to pull out of your tool box, the other team knows what’s coming,” Servais added, “and it’s easier to hit. …. The development of his slider, and using that in all different kinds of counts, has really helped.”
The offseason adjustment led to a career month for Gilbert this April. He’s still hoping to cut down his walk rate, now at 3.3 walks per nine innings and up from 2.1 in 2021. His three walks Wednesday resulted in two Philadelphia runs, and provided more-generous counts for Phillies hitters, such as Hoskins’ game-deciding homer in the fourth inning.
In his first three starts this season, Gilbert walked one batter. In his next three appearances, he’d walk 10.
“He’ll be cruising along, and all of a sudden, it’s ball-ball-ball and he doesn’t get back into it quick enough,” Servais said.
It’s typically a fastball up and away from Gilbert that results in walks, and they tend to come in bunches.
“We pride ourselves on throwing strikes around here and controlling counts,” Servais added after the game. “(Logan) didn’t do it.”
Gilbert throws his fastball nearly five percent less often in 2022, with slight upticks in each of his other three offerings. Once he can eradicate the walks – like he did for most of April – Gilbert hopes to go deeper into ball games; just one of his seven appearances this season has stretched into the seventh inning.
“We’ve seen Logan go deep before,” Servais said. “It’s just right now, it’s been a struggle. He’s had those one or two innings where the pitch count has gone up, and it cost him.”
Julio Rodriguez put Seattle on the board with a second-inning single that scored Adam Frazier from second base.
Bohm led off the fourth inning with a single, Philadelphia’s first of the game. Gilbert walked Bryce Harper and former Mariner Jean Segura, and Hoskins’ grand slam put the Phillies ahead, 4-1.
Penn Murfee and Anthony Misiewicz each logged an inning of scoreless relief, allowing one hit apiece. Murfee added a strikeout.
Ty France plated Dylan Moore on a seventh-inning single to right field that narrowed the score to 4-2. Julio Rodriguez, then the leading run at the plate, flew out to center field to end the threat.
Wyatt Mills and Drew Steckenrider posted their eighth and ninth innings of scoreless relief, respectively.
Seattle gets Thursday off before a three-game series with the New York Mets at Citi Field. They’ll make three stops across their ten-game road trip – including three games in Toronto and four more at Fenway Park in Boston – before their next home stand kicks off on May 23.
“Offensively, not a ton going today,” Servais said. “We’ve got an opportunity for our guys to step up… we need to hit on the road.”
NOTES
Tom Murphy continues strength exercises meant to stabilize his dislocated left shoulder, suffered last Friday versus the Rays. He’ll join the team on their upcoming road trip with hopes of returning to the lineup.
Murphy has yet to swing a bat, but that should happen soon, Servais said: “He will travel, and if everything goes great, he could rejoin the team at the end of the road trip.”
Reliever Sergio Romo will board Seattle’s flight and potentially rejoin the club on their road trip.
Romo, 39, wasn’t active for Wednesday’s game, but could return to Seattle’s bullpen in the coming days, if needed. The right-hander was placed on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation on April 13, and tossed one inning of relief Tuesday on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma. Romo allowed a solo home run to Salt Lake’s Jake McCarthy – it was the only hit he’d allow – and whiffed one.
