By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – With some more great pitching and some clutch hitting from unlikely faces, the Seattle Mariners would win this series and overall season series against the New York Yankees with an August tenth win. It would be the 61st win of 2022 for Seattle, pushing them into sole possession of the second Wild Card spot in the American League. This season series win is the first time that the Mariners have accomplished the feat since the year 2002.
Carlos Santana points to the sky following his go ahead homer (Photo by Bryan Saldana)
Ray day gives Mariners another tight pitching performance
Starting pitcher Robbie Ray went through six and a third innings with little to criticize, save for five walks. A two-run homer by Kyle Higashioka would open up the game for the Yankees and open up the chance for New York to take the series late. This, coming after not getting a run across the plate in 19 innings, spanning back to yesterday's late-night thriller. Something important to take into consideration is that Ray got pushed to and past his limit, throwing 115 pitches on the day. Ray has not gone over 110 this season, until today.
Reliever Penn Murfee should have been put into the game sooner, avoiding a walk by Isiah Kiner-Falefa and a blast by Kyle Higashioka. All things being said, Ray had a solid outing and had a better performance than his last two against Houston. Seattle was able to overcome the seventh inning though, with some clutch offense of their own.
Robbie Ray winds up to throw a pitch (Photo by Bryan Saldana)
Late inning offense pushes Seattle over the top
Through five innings, Seattle was being no hit by former Mariner Nestor Cortes. The Yankees All-Star pitcher was wheeling and dealing, until Sam Haggerty came to the plate with one out. Haggerty, who has really shown a significant jump in overall play since last year, would come up clutch for the Mariners yet again in what is becoming an incredible year for him.
Haggerty would blast a solo homer that would bang off of the left field pole, dashing the no hitter and giving the Mariners a lead. Haggerty has proven crucial since being recalled from AAA Tacoma on June 29th. Throw in his speed on the base paths, and some plus defense, and Haggerty is a valuable member of this team that must stay on the roster going forward.
Nestor Cortes kept the Mariners hitless until Sam Haggerty’s homer (Photo by Bryan Saldana)
Huge past two series against the Yankees shows who Seattle can be
This series win against the Yankees, as well as the one exactly a week ago, are big. Over the course of a difficult 20 days following the All-Star break, Seattle went on a 10-10 record. That is pretty solid considering that you were playing the Astros and Yankees for two series each.
Over the course of their last 14 series, the Mariners have a record of 11-2-1. That sort of record is the exact thing that Seattle needs to do in order to end their 21-year postseason drought. The Mariners are going to need continue to achieve this positive record as they continue to finish their season, mostly against their divisional rivals.
Quick notes
Last night’s outing by Luis Castillo (8IP, 3 hits allowed, 0 runs, 2 walks, 7 strikeout’s) helped him become the Mariners pitcher this season to throw eight or more innings, and the first since Marco Gonzales threw a complete game last year, August 12th, against the Texas Rangers.
In eleven games as a reliever this season, Matt Brash is 2-0 with 1.54 ERA with 7 hits allowed, 7 walks, and 16 strikeouts.
Andres Munoz has three or more strikeouts in 14 relief appearances this season, which is tied for the most in baseball.
In last night’s game, there were 202 pitches of at least 95 MPH, most of any game in baseball this season.
What’s next?
The Mariners will get a game off on Thursday before they head down to Texas to face their divisional rivals, the Rangers. Seattle will begin a nine-game road trip between eleven days. The Mariners will play the Rangers for three games before heading down to play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and then the Oakland Athletics.
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