Grading the resilient Seattle Mariners' gritty 2-1 series win vs. Texas Rangers

The Seattle Mariners had to work for their latest series victory, as all three games against the Texas Rangers went into extras and resulted in the two clubs playing 34 innings in three days.

But as far as the Mariners are concerned, a series win is a series win. And this one has put some nice distance between them and the 2023 World Series champs, who are now 2.5 games behind Seattle in the AL West standings.

The M's got exactly what they needed in the finale on Sunday. Namely, a strong six-inning effort by Luis Castillo and production from someone other than Cal Raleigh on offense. In this case, it was Mitch Garver getting to his former team for four RBI, including two on a game-breaking homer in the top of the 12th.

Let's get more into this series by recapping what happened and grading how the Mariners performed in all facets of the game.

Mariners vs. Rangers Breakdown and Grades: Series Results

• Friday, June 27: SEA 7, TEX 6 (12)
• Saturday, June 28: SEA 2, TEX 3 (10)
• Sunday, June 29: SEA 6, TEX 4 (12)

Grading the Mariners’ Offense: C

The Mariners went into this series in need of an offensive jump-start. After dabbling in extreme hotness with a 47-run barrage in a five-game span, the two games they played in Minnesota before heading to Texas yielded all of one run.

Things started off well enough with a seven-run effort on Friday, in which the top of the lineup did its job by putting plenty of guys on base and racking up four runs batted in. But go figure that it was the normally light-hitting Miles Mastrobuoni who delivered the key hit with a go-ahead (and ultimately game-winning) single in the 12th inning.

Even in Friday's win, however, a familiar problem emerged as the Mariners went just 4-for-23 with runners in scoring position. It remained an issue on Saturday, as an RBI single by Randy Arozarena was Seattle's lone hit in eight RISP at-bats. A 6-for-16 effort on Sunday was a nice improvement, but half of those hits came after the game had gone beyond regulation.

If you're wondering if Seattle's inability to bring baserunners home is as bad as it feels, well, it is. Going into Sunday's game, only three teams — both New York clubs and the Atlanta Braves — had left more runners on base. Further, only two teams had struck out more often than the Mariners with runners in scoring position.

The Mariners ostensibly have the home run ball to help sustain their offense, but it's not ideal that one guy is responsible for 30 percent of their 107 home runs. Cal Raleigh has 32, whereas the No. 2 spot for the team consists of three players tied with 11...and one of those guys isn't even with the organization anymore.

It is otherwise time for the Mariners to have a serious conversation about Dylan Moore. Though it is somewhat comforting that he's not getting starts anymore, there's nothing comfortable about his offensive skid. He is now 1-for-34 with 20 strikeouts since May 28, with his last home run coming on May 23.

Either way, the bottom line after an effort that saw the M's score only eight runs in regulation throughout this series is this: This lineup has a big ol' "Help Wanted" sign hanging on it right now.

Grading the Mariners’ Defense: C

The "C" here seems appropriate because this was a series in which the defense both gave and took away.

Arguably the highlight of the series for Seattle was what Mastrobuoni did even before he came through with the game-winning hit on Friday. He set himself up for it with an incredible running catch into the outfield in the bottom of the 11th, which put an end to a bases-loaded jam for Eduard Bazardo.

Not to be overlooked is the sliding catch that Luke Raley made on a hard liner by Adolis García in the bottom of the 12th, which kept the ghost runner at second with two outs in the inning. Bazardo would later fan Josh Jung to end the inning and the game.

Alas, it's a shame about the throwing error that J.P. Crawford made in the bottom of the third inning on Saturday. It put a runner on base for Corey Seager, who cranked a two-run homer that put the Rangers in the lead. Those were two pivotal runs in what ended up being a one-run loss.

That's already four throwing errors for Crawford this year after he made one throughout all of 2024. But in his defense, a better first baseman than Solano would have been able to scoop that ball. It's a regular reminder that the veteran isn't exactly a natural first baseman, and that Jerry Dipoto can and should do better in his trade deadline shopping.

Grading the Mariners’ Pitching: B

The Mariners allowed 13 runs over 34 innings in this series. That's a perfectly acceptable outcome even sans context.

Because of Crawford's error, neither of the two runs that Bryan Woo allowed on Saturday was earned. He thus notched his 16th straight start of at least six innings and lowered his ERA to 2.93, thereby further reinforcing himself as a modern model of pitching efficiency.

For his part, Logan Gilbert cruised through five innings on Friday before the wheels came off in an ugly sixth inning that turned a 5-1 lead into a 5-4 lead. He hit a batter and allowed three hits, including consecutive run-scoring hits to Marcus Semien and García.

Gilbert is lucky that Semien's RBI double wasn't a three-run homer, as it was a 375-foot shot off the left field wall that would have been a home run at 19 out of 30 ballparks around MLB. But he was subsequently unlucky on García's single, which was of the seeing-eye variety that bounced three times on the infield before making its way to the outfield.

Castillo battled through seven hits and two walks on Sunday, but did not give up any home runs after struggling with the long ball in previous outings. It helped that he literally changed things up, going to his changeup a season-high 24 percent of the time to throw Rangers hitters off the scent of his four-seamer and sinker.

The bullpen allowed only two earned runs in the three games, thus continuing a mostly strong run in June. It has given up 39 runs throughout the month, and about 20 percent of those came in one ugly appearance by the since-DFA'd Zach Pop on Thursday.

It's especially encouraging to see Matt Brash getting more work and looking more and more like his 2023 self. He has now gone 18 appearances without allowing a run, and this series saw him go on back-to-back days for only the second time all year.

It's a bummer about Andrés Muñoz, however. He blew a save by allowing a run in the 10th on Friday and took the loss on Semien's walk-off single on Saturday. He's now given up six runs in his last eight appearances after allowing only two (neither of which was earned) in his first 24.

Grading the Mariners’ Strategy: C

Apropos of the earlier rant on Moore, it's hard to excuse how he ended up getting five at-bats in this series.

He simply hasn't earned that kind of confidence, even if using him to pinch-hit against the left-handed-throwing Hoby Milner on Friday and Saturday was the right call on paper by Dan Wilson. He would have been better off taking his chances with Dominic Canzone, who's been on a power surge since returning from Tacoma, and Mastrobuoni, who at least puts the bat on the ball.

Curiously, Wilson did not call on either Mastrobuoni or Jorge Polanco to pinch-hit for Ben Williamson to gain the platoon advantage with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning on Sunday. Two runs were already in, but Williamson's strikeout to close the inning ended up mattering. Seager subsequently tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom half, which frankly could have been avoided if Wilson had put him on after he had worked a 3-0 count.

Even with this said, it's not the worst thing if Wilson is feeling like he needs to cool it with the pinch-hitters. The M's lead MLB with 93 at-bats by pinch-hitters, and those are a big reason why the offense has the platoon advantage 64.7 percent of the time. But with only 17 hits and six RBI to show for all those pinch-hit appearances, the results simply aren't there.

We otherwise stand by a recent post that praised Wilson's recent management of his bullpen, as really his only questionable move was calling in Casey Legumina to get out of a jam in the seventh inning on Friday. It worked, but Brash would have been a better choice given that it was the teeth of Texas' lineup that Legumina was facing.

What we certainly don't mind is the choice to use Brash in the ninth inning of both games instead of Muñoz. The game was tied in both instances, and so there was logic in trusting Brash to preserve the tie in hopes that Muñoz would get a lead to protect in extra innings. He's essentially a second closer for Wilson right now, and he got the job done both times.

In any case, the Mariners' 10-game trip through Chicago, Minneapolis, and Arlington has ended with a 6-4 record. There will be no rest for the weary, as the Kansas City Royals await the Mariners for the start of a four-game set back in Seattle on Monday.