The prospect vs. the proven.
With the Mariners looking to erase the disappointment from giving away a victory on Saturday night and also try to salvage a last victory on what has been a brutal road trip, the starting pitching matchup of talented but inexperienced rookie Logan Gilbert vs. reigning American League Rookie of the Year Shane Bieber didn’t seem like an equation that would result in success.
But on this day, the prospect proved to be better while the Mariners surprising success against one of the best pitchers in baseball continued.
Gilbert delivered a brilliant outing, perhaps his best of his rookie campaign, and his teammates provided unexpected run support, scoring five runs off Bieber, to end the 12-game road trip with a 6-2 victory.
Perhaps the only downer on the day was seeing Mitch Haniger being helped off the field after fouling a 92-mph fastball from Bieber into left knee in the first inning. The Mariners later announced Haniger had suffered a left knee contusion.
Gilbert pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts to pick up his second straight win.
He held Cleveland scoreless over the first five innings. But a leadoff walk to Bradley Zimmer, his first and only walk he issued in the game, would come around to score on a single from Amed Rosario.
J.P. Crawford opened the game with a single off Bieber and with two outs in the sixth inning he singled again for the Mariners 10th hit off Bieber, who finally pulled from the game with a 107 pitches thrown. His final line: 5 2/3 innings pitched, five runs allowed on 10 hits, including two long home runs, with two walks and eight strikeouts.
If you combine those numbers with his previous outing against the Mariners on May 16, where he took the loss, pitching just 4 2/3 innings and giving up three runs on five hits with four walks and seven strikeouts at T-Mobile Park, Bieber has allowed eight runs on 15 hits in 11 1/3 innings pitched with six walks and 15 strikeouts.
In his other 12 starts, Bieber has a 7-2 record with a 2.80 ERA while averaging 6 2/3 innings per start and limiting opponents to a .217 batting average and striking 9.6 batters per game.
Before the game, Mariners manager Scott Servais talked about team’s past success against Bieber, using the word “disciplined” in their approach at the plate, working to not chase Bieber’s curveball that is thrown off the plate for swings and misses.
While not perfect in every at-bat, Seattle displayed it again.
With two outs in the second inning, Jose Godoy and J.P. Crawford came up with RBI singles for a 2-0 lead.
Kyle Seager made it 3-0 in the third inning, crushing a hanging curveball from Bieber into the right field seats for his 13th homer of the season. Per Statcast, Seager’s blast traveled 427 feet.
The Mariners not another long ball on the same pitch and in almost the same place. With Godoy on base, Jake Fraley, who replaced Haniger in the game, crushed a curveball into the right field stands for a two-run dinger. It was his fourth homer of the season.
Things got a little interesting in the ninth when reliever Kendall Graveman, pitching on back-to-back days found all sorts of trouble with two outs, giving up a run and allowing the tying run to come to the plate with the bases loaded. But he got a lineout to left off the bat of Josh Naylor to end the game.
