FanSided

Mariners vs. Guardians: Moore hits 2 homers, rotation struggles, and Crawford's pizza

After a strong start, Seattle ultimately faltered in a three-game series against the current leaders of the AL Central as they lost the series to the Guardians

By Jason Wang |
Seattle Mariners v Cleveland Guardians
Seattle Mariners v Cleveland Guardians / Jason Miller/GettyImages
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It's been a pretty easy schedule for the Mariners as of late. Since the Yankees series at the end of May, the only team with a winning record that they played was the Kansas City Royals. After a schedule full of White Sox and Athletics, they ran into their first big challenge in nearly a month and fell a little short.

The Guardians are a great team this year. Their +94 run differential is the third-best in the AL and dwarfs the Mariners' own +11 run differential. After winning the first game of the series, the holes in the team became more apparent, especially the offense that scored just three runs in the final 18 innings. Nonetheless, there were still some bright performances that shined through.

Best Hitter: Dylan Moore

12 PA, .300/.417/1.000, 3 H, 1 2B, 2 HR, 4 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, 2 SB

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Dylan Moore is having a great season. There's a pretty tight race between him, Josh Rojas, Luke Raley, and Ty France to see who can be the greatest offensive contributor to the team this season. All four of these players have OPS+ within two of each other and no one seems to be seizing the lead just yet.

Moore's June has been pretty cold, posting a .597 OPS over 57 plate appearances so far, but this series lifted his numbers significantly. It's hard to have three extra base hits in ten at-bats and not see a big boost to your OPS.

Moore has also been an underrated baserunner this year, stealing 13 bags this year. He had 21 stolen bases in both 2021 and 2022 so it wouldn't be out of the question for him to hit that 20 stolen base mark. Add that to his growing list of capabilities.

Honorable Mention: J.P. Crawford

12 PA, .300/.417/.700, 3 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K

Crawford had a fiery set of games. A big contributor to the offense in the first game of the series, both extra base hits he had were on the first day in Cleveland. His first two RBI came off of a home run against Triston McKenzie in the third inning, getting the Mariners on the board in what would eventually be an 8-5 win.

Despite getting on base four times on Tuesday, he didn't do much in the last two games, getting just one hit and one run. He did, however, get ejected in the 8-0 blowout loss on Wednesday after two high strike calls.

Best Pitcher: Bryce Miller

5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

It was a rough week for the rotation. No one was able to put up a quality start but Bryce Miller was the closest, falling just one batter short of hitting the six inning mark. He pitched in the first game which was a rough outing for both team's starters with Triston McKenzie conceding four earned runs in just 2.1 innings. While he's usually good for whiffs in the double digits, he had just six swings and misses which coincides with his two strikeouts.

His command seemed a little off in Cleveland, with many of his pitches ending up too high in the strike zone, most notably his four-seam fastball. As his primary weapon, the effectiveness of his fastball essentially dictates how each start goes. Insufficient command and too many hitter's counts make him more hittable.

Despite his struggles, he still outperformed Luis Castillo and Bryan Woo. If anything, this matchup against the Guardians perfectly illustrated that without the starting rotation in peak form, Seattle becomes a very beatable team.

Honorable Mention: Ryne Stanek

1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

After a rough May, Stanek is starting to bounce back. After a 4.66 ERA over 9.2 innings last month, he's already recorded a 3.24 ERA over 8.1 innings pitched with four saves. He's allowing more baserunners and is particularly being haunted by his typically high walk rate, but he's yet to give up a home run this month, helping him minimize his earned runs.

At the beginning of the year, it seemed like the Mariners would have the luxury of being able to use two different high-leverage pitchers. Now that we're nearly 80 games into the season, it's clear that Andrés Muñoz is the team's primary closer with Stanek being a distant second. Munoz has a 1.47 ERA and 13 saves to Stanek's 3.81 ERA and seven saves. Nonetheless, both are flamethrowers and there's a chance Stanek makes necessary adjustments to return to his 2022 form by the time the postseason runs around and his abilities are needed the most.

Best Moment: Fans order J.P. Crawford a pizza for his troubles

Following his ejection due to frustration with some questionable umpire calls, J.P. Crawford exited the dugout and headed back to the clubhouse as per usual. However, something was different about this particular ejection.

To many fans, Crawford's ejection was more than reasonable. No one likes to see valid at-bats taken away from players because of unclear strike zones, especially when the player is trying to claw their way out of an offensive regression. While it's tough to commiserate and empathize when the team is away, Mariners fans find a way. @thejagepage rallied fans on Twitter to order Crawford a pizza for his troubles. A small gesture but one that was recognized by the team and player.

It's been said many times that Seattle has some of the best fans in baseball. This moment made that clear. The Mariners won't always perform to the highest level and they surely won't win every game, but their fans will stick with them through thick and thin (crust).

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