SEATTLE — Scott Servais wasn’t trying to be prophetic or even cautiously optimistic in his pregame press session on Sunday morning. But when asked what his team and its suddenly rejuvenated offense would be seeing later that afternoon when Cleveland ace Shane Bieber stepped on the mound in the series finale.
Servais complimented the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner, mentioning his tight-spinning curveball might be one of the best in the game and the command of the fastball was exceptional.
And then he paused the praise for a moment.
“I say all that and he makes mistakes in the middle of the plate,” Servais said. “I just watched his last outing, and he’s really, really good, but nobody’s perfect. You’ve got to be ready to hit, you’ve got to be ready to hit from pitch one, trying to control the outside corner, especially if you’re a right-handed hitter. He commands it very, very well. But he still makes mistakes. We got to be ready to capitalize on them there because there’ll be a few there, there will be at least one guaranteed.”
Still, with Servais forced to have a bullpen start and Bieber capable of reverting the Mariners to their previous plate struggles, this didn’t seem like an equation that would equal success.
And yet, Servais wouldn’t concede to such thinking.
“You can look at one of two ways: ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Bieber, he’s the Cy Young Award winner and all that other stuff.’ Or you can look at it like, ‘Yeah, let’s go. Bring it. Let’s see what we’ve got.’ And I really feel our clubs kind of at that point. It’s a good challenge for us today. And I’m looking forward to it. I really am.”
On an unusually warm Sunday afternoon for May, the Mariners showed they were up to the challenge. They scored three runs off Bieber, highlighted by a first inning RBI single from Kyle Lewis and a two-run single from J.P. Crawford to roll to a 3-2 win.
The Mariners won the four-game series, and snapped Bieber’s record streak of 20 consecutive starts with at least eight strikeouts while also ending a streak of 40 starts of pitching at least five innings. Bieber lasted just 4 1/3 and struck out seven.
With Marco Gonzales still on the injured list and the Mariners committed to the six-man rotation, Servais had no choice but to turn that spot in the rotation over to the bullpen to put together nine innings.
Right-hander Robert Dugger — the man of many breaking balls, got the start and delivered everything the Mariners could have asked for, pitching three shutout innings, allowing just one base runner on a walk and striking out four batters. Of his 50 pitches, Dugger threw 20 curveballs and seven sliders, keeping Cleveland hitters off balance.
Servais called on veteran right-hander Paul Sewald, who was called up on Thursday, to provide multiple innings of relief. With a 3-0 lead, Sewald delivered two scoreless innings, now allowing a hit while walking a batter and striking out four. Five combined scoreless innings with no hits, two walks and eight strikeouts are better production than calling up a spot starter from the minor leagues.
That run of scoreless innings ended when Rafael Montero entered in the sixth inning. The one-time closer, who just can’t seem to avoid putting runners on base or allowing them to reach, did just that. He issued a leadoff walk ad allowed a double to Jose Ramirez to put runners on second and third with no outs. It did look like he might channel in his inner Fernando Rodney and pitch out of the self-made situation. He struck out Franmil Reyes and got Josh Naylor to ground to second base that allowed a run to score.
Montero should’ve been out of the inning when Jordan Luplow hit a ground ball to the left side. But Donovan Walton, who was starting at third with Kyle Seager getting a “rest” day at designated hitter, couldn’t make the play. The error led to another run scored, trimming Seattle’s lead to 3-2. After Montero allowed another double, putting runners on second and third again, Servais had to make a change.
Right-hander Will Vest cleaned up the mess quite quickly, striking out Austin Hedges to end the inning.
