FanSided

Mariners vs. White Sox: Cal puts on his Raleigh cap, Miller lites it up, and Seattle walks it off... twice

Seattle misses out on what should've been a straightforward four-game sweep but had some electric moments on the way

By Jason Wang |
Chicago White Sox v Seattle Mariners
Chicago White Sox v Seattle Mariners / Steph Chambers/GettyImages
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After dropping a series against the Royals, playing the White Sox should've been palate cleanser. As the team in baseball with arguably the bleakest outlook, it shouldn't have been too difficult for a division leader to win four games in a row. Furthermore, the Sox have a 25.7% winning record and already experienced a 14-game loss streak.

Unfortunately for Seattle, they came up short at the last minute, losing a close final game of the series and only managing to outscore their opponent 16-11.

Best Hitter: Cal Raleigh

14 PA, .286/.286/.643, 4 H, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 7 RBI, 5 K

Raleigh was responsible for nearly half of the runs scored by the Mariners in this series, driving in seven. His feast or famine style ultimately paid off but showed a continued weakness in his game which is his high strikeout rate. On the season, he's punching out at a 33.9% clip and whiffing at a 31.6% rate.

The trade-off for that is the much-needed power that he brings to the team. His quality of contact metrics are all in the top decile and his hard-hit rate of 56.2% is in the top 2%. Even when his batted balls don't end up in the stands, they're typically scorched. In the second game of the series, he hit a key go-ahead double that was off the bat at a steaming 109.3 mph.

Honorable Mention: Dominic Canzone

10 PA, .375/.500/.875, 3 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K

Canzone was hot this week, collecting seven total bases in the three games that he played. He exercised great plate discipline, something that's been hard to find in Seattle as of late, and had the lowest strikeout rate out of any position player during the series.

He has been ceding a lot of his playing time in left field to Luke Raley, who now leads the team in OPS (>150 plate appearances). It was a rough May for Canzone, who only managed a .143 batting average and .427 OPS, but he seems to be on the right trajectory in June. He's slashing .238/.385/.429 over his 26 plate appearances so far. He's walked as many times as he has struck out and his power seems to be coming back. He's been the subject of some trade talks, especially with the increased buzz around a potential move to bring Luis Robert Jr. to the Emerald City. Robert would likely be an upgrade, especially in the long-term, but don't count on Canzone just yet.

Best Pitcher: Bryce Miller

7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

"BMoney" was indeed money in the third game of the series, keeping the White Sox over the seven innings of his outing. Of his 12 swings and misses that he recorded, 11 came on his four-seam fastball. Miller was aggressive, throwing 64 strikes on 92 pitches, a 69.6% clip. His splitter lacked some of its usual effectiveness but it still had its moments.

After a scorching start to the season, Miller had five rough starts in May, going 1-3 and posting a 5.22 ERA over 29 ⅓ innings. In his three starts in June, he's posted a 3.50 ERA over 18 innings pitched. No one expected him to maintain the 2.04 ERA he had when he came out of April, but it's good to see that he's made the necessary adjustments to return to form.

Honorable Mention: Logan Gilbert

6.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Gilbert ran into some trouble in his outing but still managed to keep it a quality start. He was immensely aggressive, logging 20 whiffs with a 70.5% strike rate. The downside was that he ended up conceding quite a bit of hard contact, including a two-run home run to Luis Robert Jr. in the sixth inning that had an exit velocity of 111.9 mph. The upside was that he had eight strikeouts and looked darn good doing it.

His start against the White Sox falls in line with the Statcast metrics that he's logged over the 90 ⅓ innings he has pitched so far. He's got a great whiff rate (29.1%), is excellent at limiting walks (5.7%), and has a decen strikeout rate (24.1%), but his average exit velocity of 89.2 mph is below average. It's always been one of his main weaknesses, likely driven by his determination to attack the zone with strikes, but it's actually improved from the >90.0 mph average exit velocities he's had over the past two seasons.

Best Moment(s): Cal & Mitch walk it off in two separate games

This series wasn't expected to be the most thrilling one of the season but it got started in a big way. The Mariners lineup struggled for the first seven innings of the game, finding themselves unexpectedly down 4-0 by the middle of the eighth inning. After Dominic Canzone hit a home run to lead off the inning, Seattle loaded the bases before a Mitch Haniger single scored both Ryan Bliss and J.P. Crawford. A subsequent Luke Raley single would score Josh Rojas to tie the game at four runs each.

Heading into the bottom of the ninth with the game still tied, Cal Raleigh stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. He really just needed a sacrifice fly to get the job done, but when has he ever settled for less? Instead, Cal's g-hack resulted in a grand-slam walk-off to win the first game in a big way.

In the third game of the series, both teams were having great pitching days. After a Luis Robert Jr. home run off of Mike Baumann tied the game in the ninth inning, the Mariners kept it tied to head into extra innings. Trent Thornton managed to retire the White Sox in order before Mitch Haniger sealed the deal with Seattle's second hit of the night.

It seems like the Mariners have been very much a "why work harder when you can work smarter" kind of team. They don't put up a ton of runs but with their pitching and defense, they score just enough to scrape by with the win.

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