Cal Raleigh, Julio, and Winker highlight Mariners win over A’s
The Mariners got the opening game win in the four game series against the Oakland Athletics, and there were a couple big things that stood out from the game.
One, Logan Gilbert threw the hardest pitch of his life, touching 100 mph. Now, it came in at 99.6, but it counts as 100 on screen. I don’t know if it’s something we are going to see again, but I honestly have a feeling that it will be. Gilbert is still learning and growing into his body. 100 mph from him won’t be an outlier, but something we will start to see more and more.
Two, Julio showed why he isn’t just one of the best young players in baseball… but one of the best players in baseball, period. He took a 93 mph sinker on the outside corner and launched it dead center for his 13th homer of the year. When you add up homers and steals, Julio is actually second in all of baseball. We need some kind of word for this. Basketball has “stocks” for blocks+steals, but I’m not clever to come up with something for baseball.
Third, JP had his suspension dropped from five games to four, and started it tonight. This means that he is going to miss the entirety of the Athletics series. Luckily for both the Mariners and their fans, Julio, Winker, and JP don’t have to serve them at the same time, and can spread them out. This is great news for an already depleted Mariners outfield. With that being said, Dylan Moore showed up huge and launched a two-run homer in the 4th inning.
Fourth, and finally, it’s Cal Raleigh… BIG DUMPER!!!!!
Yeah, that was something to behold. Raleigh launched it to dead center, bouncing it off Bolt’s glove. Then, an errant throw to third allowed Raleigh to rumble home. All I can think of is Chris Berman, yelling “rumblin’, bumblin’, fumblin’, stumblin’ “, watching Raleigh use every ounce of energy he had to get off the ground and get to home plate.
It was a good win for the Mariners, and a really fun game. The Mariners started off the series exactly how they needed to, getting a much-needed win. As always… go Mariners!