Mariners happy to see Pax back

The Mariners can rest easier after James Paxton’s Wednesday night start. Coming off of a rough start that snapped his 21 inning scoreless streak, Paxton turned in another sterling performance. In seven innings the lefty surrendered no runs on just four hits with nine strikeouts.

James Paxton was cruising. He turned in three straight stellar starts to open the season. Then he hit a speed bump. The Athletics pummeled him, prompting some to wonder if Paxton’s consistency would be a question mark. Paxton silenced some of the chatter Wednesday though, leading the Mariners to an 8-0 victory.

With dominating velocity and pinpoint command, he shut down a Tigers offense that torched Seattle for 19 runs on Tuesday. With the blow to King Felix, Paxton will need to step up and fill the ace role in his stead. All indications are that he will fill fine. Last week’s meltdown in Oakland was just a bad start from a generally solid pitcher. It happens.

Wednesday night worth nothing:

In Servais’s postgame press conference, he threw the media a bit of a bone when he referred to Paxton as “Big Maple.” Obviously a nod to Paxton’s Canadian roots, it will definitely be given some life by the Seattle news outlets in the coming days.

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Jean Segura, in his two games back from the DL has hit 6-for-12 with four runs scored, five RBIs and a homer. His batting average now sits at .364, one of the top marks in the MLB.

Prior to the game, the Mariners made quite a few roster moves. Two addressed their open roster spots with Haniger and Felix heading to the DL.

• Chase De Jong – Recalled from AAA Tacoma
• Casey Fien – Recalled from AAA Tacoma
• Ben Gamel – Recalled from AAA Tacoma
• Dillon Overton – Recalled from AAA Tacoma
• Chris Heston – Optioned to AAA Tacoma
• Evan Marshall – Optioned to AAA Tacoma

I personally only like the De Jong call up. He’s a solid arm, could be bullpen or could start. That said, He could’ve been called up in exchange for Heston, Overton and Gamel could’ve filled in for Haniger and Felix, but Fien was a mess at the beginning of the year, leading to his demotion. Marshall was also solid in his MLB appearances, and I don’t see exactly what Servais is trying to do at this point.

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Dipoto and Servais have a much better feel for the pulse and needs of the Mariners, so I’ll leave it up to them, but these roster moves need to lead to some success if Seattle wants to stay in contention.