By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The Seattle Mariners fell to the Philadelphia Phillies in the rubber match of the series, 4-2. Seattle left eight men stranded on the base paths as they have now lost eleven of their last 15. Starter Logan Gilbert was given his first loss of the season, as his walk issue caught up to him. In the fourth inning, Gilbert walked two batters following Alec Bohm’s leadoff single, and Rhys Hoskins launched a grand slam to left field.
The Mariners and JP Crawford went 1-2 in the teams first matchup against Philadelphia since Crawford was acquired via trade (Photo Mat Bermudez)
Walks become Gilbert’s kryptonite
Seattle starter Logan Gilbert has been a man possessed to begin his 2022 campaign. Gilbert came into this matchup with four wins and no losses record as well as sitting near the top of the league in earned run average. The main issue that the 25-year-old right hander has faced this season has been giving up walks. Logan has found himself in the most trouble in his outings when he gets behind in counts and loads bases with walks. It may be one of very few growing pains for Gilbert, but it certainly factored into the loss. With the bases loaded thanks to two of those aforementioned walks, Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins took Gilbert deep to left field. Hoskins third home run of the series would be the only runs that Philadelphia put on the board, but Seattle failed to answer.
Leadoff man Adam Frazier has been a bright spot for Seattle’s offense (Photo by Mathew Bermudez)
Bats continue to stay quiet for Seattle
The Mariners have had offensive consistency issues for the majority of their 2022 season. Ty France, JP Crawford, and Adam Frazier have been solid in the batter's box to begin the season but the rest of the lineup is lagging behind. While catcher Tom Murphy has had a much better year in general, he is currently injured with a dislocated shoulder, slotting Cal Raleigh back in his place. Raleigh has struggled mightily at the plate since being called up to the big leagues last year, currently posting a .069 batting average. In case you cannot tell, that is atrocious. The Mariners acquisitions of Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez have had moments, but need to have a much better offensive presence in order to give Seattle the boost they were hoping for when the trade went through.
Seattle gets a day off before beginning a brutal road trip, facing the New York Mets (21-10, first in the NL East), Toronto Blue Jays (17-15, third in AL East) and Boston Red Sox (11-19, last in AL East) in nine consecutive days. A major factor into the Toronto series is that players who are unvaccinated cannot enter Canada. Unvaccinated players will not be able to stay in Toronto while their team plays games at Rogers Centre. It will be interesting to note what players will be unavailable for our Mariners.
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