Mariners Analysis: Steve Clevenger Steps Up in M’s 10-7 Win

Steve Clevenger came up huge this afternoon in the Seattle Mariners’ 10-7 against the Cleveland Indians.

Robinson Cano may have secured the win in Thursday’s matinee affair against the Cleveland Indians by hitting a three-run blast to straight away center in the top half of the tenth inning, but it was backup catcher, Steve Clevenger that won the game with his timely hitting, fielding and patience.

The new Mariner acquisition started the game off with a bang. In his first at bat of the day in the second inning, the former Oriole worked his way ahead of the count (2-1) and took advantage of the next pitch. Indians pitcher Cody Anderson missed his location and left the ball on the middle inside half of the plate, right where Clevenger could get his bat around it, taking the ball over the right field wall.

“I’ve been working with a little bit about getting back a little more and just staying back on the ball.” he said to MLB.com reporter Greg John, “He threw me a good change-up to hit, and I put a good swing on it.”

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Clevenger has never been a power hitter- this was just his fourth home run of his career- but oddly enough, his team has won in each of the four games he has homered in. His first dinger as a Mariner couldn’t have come at a more important time for him as Mike Zunino, the Mariners’ catcher last year, has been tearing it up with the Tacoma Rainiers. Zunino has been having a season to remember so far, hitting six long balls in nine games, raising question if he should replace Clevenger in the lineup.

Clevenger seemed unfazed today though by the speculation that he might lose his backup position to Zunino, as he continued his already impressive day with a single in the fourth. This was only the catcher’s 17th multi-hit game of his 150 game career, and now it was the first in which he had also hit a home run.

The curtains didn’t close there on his performance, no, the Mariners’ still needed to get the win after allowing the Indians to come back from a 7-2 deficit, Clevenger made sure he did his part. In the bottom of the ninth inning, after Francisco Lindor was walked, the hard-throwing righty gunned down Lindor who was attempting to steal second- getting him into scoring position- with a perfectly placed throw, that, if it had ended up anywhere else, Lindor would have been safe and who knows how the game would’ve ended. This was already Clevenger’s second pick off of a runner trying to steal on him this season. He has only played in four games.

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The icing on the cake however, came in the next inning where the man of the match managed to draw a vital lead-off walk despite falling behind in the count 1-2. Clevenger did not stay on first, as he is not known for his speed, but the value of putting a running on base created a momentum that lead to another walk to Franklin Gutierrez and then to the deciding hit of the game, the Cano no-doubter.

Clevenger’s manager, Scott Servais, was one of the first to praise the catcher after his breakout game saying to Johns in the locker room, ”Yeah, really good day for Clev,… Big home run to get us going, threw Lindor out, which had to be right on the bag, and that’s where he put it. And the leadoff walk in the 10th. It’s tough when you aren’t playing every day to get in there contribute offensively, but a really good day for him.”

Next: Taijuan Walker Owns The Cleveland Indians

Not only might today put a hush on the chatter of Clevenger being sent down for Zunino; if the Baltimore native continues to lead the team to wins in every facet of the game, like he did today, he might challenge Chris Iannetta for the starting catcher position.

Steve Clevenger came up huge this afternoon in the Seattle Mariners’ 10-7 against the Cleveland Indians.

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