Logan Gilbert deserves his due respect after leading Mariners over Yankees

Thursday was another masterclass by the Seattle Mariners' offense. One run. Five hits. Two double plays. A fair typical performance these days, as in one that usually results in impending doom giving way to acceptance that another L is coming. So, thank goodness for Logan Gilbert.

Because Weston Wilson hit a solo homer off Max Fried and Eduard Bazardo, Jose A. Ferrer and Andrés Muñoz cleaned up in relief, Gilbert is not the sole reason the Mariners were able to Snake Plissken their way out of New York (look it up, kids) with a 1-0 win over the Yankees on Thursday. But when a guy pitches six shutout innings while allowing just four hits and a walk, said guy deserves his flowers for a job well done.

Shoutout to Jhonny Pereda, too. He helped "Walter" finish strong by striking out the side in the sixth, as his challenges against Trent Grisham and Spencer Jones flipped two balls to two strike threes. All the more reason to believe in Pereda as a worthy successor to Mitch Garver as Cal Raleigh's backup.

As for Gilbert, dude is on one right now. He had us worried by posting a modest 4.00 ERA and generally not looking right in 29 starts between June 16 of last year and May 16 of this year. But since then, he's made 14 starts with a 2.54 ERA, 95 strikeouts and just 21 walks in 88.2 innings.

Whatever Gilbert lost in those 29 outings after coming back from the flexor strain that landed him on the injured list, it seems to be back now. After sitting in the 95 mph range with his four-seamer in April and May, he climbed to 96.3 mph in June and 96.9 mph for July and his first two starts of August.

On Thursday, he was attacking the Yankees with an average heater of 97.6 mph. So lest anyone think Thursday's dominance was all about a New York offense that has been going through some doldrums, that ain't it.

Inconsistent pitching has been an under-covered story for the Mariners since the All-Star break

Alas, one win doesn't move the needle that much where the Mariners are concerned. They merely avoided a second straight sweep on Thursday. They're still eight games under .500, mostly owing to a record since the All-Star break that stands at just 9-16.

The offense has escaped nobody's attention as the primary culprit, but what if we told you the pitching has been worse? Using wRC+ and the park- and league-adjusted version of ERA, here's how the two sides compare in the second half:

• wRC+: 90, 19th in MLB
• ERA-: 123, 29th in MLB

This is just a wee bit of a problem, given that the Mariners have built their contention model on pitching. And while the recent malaise mostly traces back to the bullpen, the rotation's 4.42 ERA isn't exactly confidence-inspiring. Everyone needs to be better.

Six innings of goose-egg ball isn't a fair standard, but George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Bryce Miller and Emerson Hancock are more than welcome to live up to it anyway. And whenever his time comes, that goes for Kade Anderson as well.

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