FanSided

Mariners News: Randy Arozarena, Logan Gilbert, and Victor Robles

The team is still holding on towards the end of August thanks to a great trade deadline acquisition as Victor Robles is powering the team

By Jason Wang |
Tampa Bay Rays v Seattle Mariners
Tampa Bay Rays v Seattle Mariners / Alika Jenner/GettyImages
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While the Rays are all but eliminated from the postseason given the sheer competitiveness of the AL East, they still proved to be a formidable opponent. It was a relatively low-scoring affair with both teams combining for just 19 total runs over the three-game set but the M's ultimately came out on top thanks to dominant pitching performances and a few long balls.

Best Hitter: Randy Arozarena

12 PA, .455/.500/1.000, 5 H, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, 4 K, 1 HBP

In his first matchup against the Rays in his career, Arozarena showed up in a big way, coming up clutch in the first game of the series. Against the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the third inning, a 90.8 mph cutter from Ryan Pepiot, Randy hit the ball 376 feet to right field, giving Seattle a crucial 4-1 lead. This single shot added 28.1% to the Mariners' win probability and allowed them to cruise to a 5-1 win.

In addition to being great in this series, Arozarena has been great with the team since arriving in late July. His .779 OPS is the second-highest mark on the team behind just Victor Robles and his on-base percentage of .385 leads all Seattle Mariners.

Honorable Mention: Victor Robles

7 PA, .571/.571/1.000, 4 H, 1 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB

Robles didn't get a chance to see action in the first game of the series but helped the team finish strong by leading the offensive charge. He's exceeded expectations this year and with Julio back in the everyday lineup, Seattle's outfield is looking to be in great shape for the next few years.

Best Pitcher: Logan Gilbert

6.0 IP, 97 P, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 10 K

Gilbert bounced back in a huge way following a disappointing start against the Dodgers where he conceded six earned runs. The Baseball Reference game score of 74 was the sixth-highest mark he has seen this season. On the way to ten punchouts, he had 17 whiffs (four against his slider) and 19 called strikes (ten against his four-seam fastball). While the team managed just two runs of support and JT Chargois and Collin Snider faltered coming out of the bullpen, it was still an excellent showing.

Honorable Mention: Bryce Miller

7.0 IP, 91 P, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K

It's remarkable how similar Miller's and Gilbert's starts were on back-to-back nights. It was the second time they had put up consecutive starts with 10+ strikeouts since August 6th and 8th of 2023. Miller had a slightly higher game score of 79 despite giving up a home run to Josh Lowe and it was tied with his start against the White Sox on June 12th for the second-highest game score this season. He had 14 whiffs (six against his four-seam fastball) and 17 called strikes (11 against his four-seam fastball).

Best Moment: Seattle drops three homers to seal the series win

The fans have discussed just how poor the team's offense has been ad nauseam but there's still one thing they do pretty decently: hit home runs. Their 149 combined long balls are 16th in MLB and have been the cause for most of their run-scoring activity this year. Of the six runs scored in the third game of the series, five were from home runs.

Victor Robles hit the first home run of the day in the bottom of the fifth inning against a decent high fastball from Tyler Alexander. After taking a 3-1 lead, a J.P. Crawford walk would give Julio Rodríguez a two-run shot of his own followed by a moment of admiration.

To cap things off, who else but Randy Arozarena would hit a 430-foot solo bomb in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach for Tampa Bay.

It's not a sustainable approach to hitting but when the bats are at their best, home runs often lead to victory.

The Mariners are still 3.5 games behind the Astros for the lead in the AL West with a West Coast road trip coming up where they'll play a combined seven games against the Angels and Athletics. Could this be the time for Seattle to get back on top?

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