ST. PETERSBURG – At a venue and against an opponent that could well be the Mariners’ first postseason matchup, Seattle got off to an impressive start in this crucial four-game series on Thursday night, securing a 1-0 victory over the Mariners Rays at Tropicana Field in a result that wasn’t decided until the last pitch.
For the third straight day, Andrés Muñoz was on the mound for the first time in his career when he hit his leadoff batter, issued a one-out walk and then moved the runner to scoring position with a stolen base and Seattle’s long-standing but narrow lead stretched into jeopardy.
But after a brief consultation with catcher Cal Raleigh, who had just recorded his second caught steal of the night, and pitching coach Pete Woodworth, Muñoz hit pinch-hitter Harold Ramírez on the head with his slider, the vital pitch for his Arsenal.
Muñoz completed Seattle’s 14th shutout of the year and just the sixth for the Tampa Bay offense, putting the club just ahead of the Mariners in the American League Wild Card standings.
“They asked me before the game if I was willing to go in there and I said, ‘Yeah, of course,'” Muñoz said. “I have to thank [the coaching staff] for all the help they have given me in the past [after] The outings I had were tough on me and gave me the confidence to pitch in the ninth inning.”
The Mariners believe they are built to win games like this, and they have led the MLB in wins each of the last two years. But winning a 1-0 away game in a stadium they could very well return to in four weeks for the AL Wild Card Series makes this a far more significant win than most of their other 78 games this year.
“You get into the playoffs or deep into September, you’re going to have nights where it’s just tough,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said.
The Mariners specifically don’t call this a closer, but there has rightly been a lot of talk about Muñoz being pushed into the highest-leverage pockets since the club dealt Paul Sewald at the trade deadline.
Muñoz was named the AL Reliever of the Month for August this week, but also had two blown saves and a loss during that time. And he began September by allowing an earned run in each of his first three games, including Tuesday’s walk-off loss at Cincinnati when he was on the mound for the final at-bat.
But as Servais’ deployment to a heavily-used bullpen on this road trip demonstrated, it’s all hands on deck this time of year – especially with Seattle’s most leveraged arms.
“It’s a tough call — the last three outs are the toughest outs in the game,” Raleigh said of Muñoz. “Sometimes people forget that. It’s not easy to close out games, especially a one-run ball game against one of the best teams in the league. He did great.”
In addition to Muñoz, Matt Brash also pitched for the third time in a row, although it was his first time since the 28th-30th. April in Toronto. He worked his first 1-2-3 inning since August 17, when he retired Tampa Bay’s No. 3-5 hitters (Randy Arozarena, Josh Lowe and Isaac Paredes) in order in the eighth inning, almost for 12 He dedicated 14 pitches exclusively to his slider.
Brash followed Isaiah Campbell, who had perhaps the most dominant performance of his rookie season, with six hits out of the 12 he struck out to pick up three strikeouts, while also avoiding a two-out error by Josh Rojas, who had both had a tough evening at the plate and in the field.
The bullpen was prepared thanks to six scoreless innings from Luis Castillo, who became Seattle’s first starter since Tommy Milone on July 5 to draw four walks. The Mariners’ starters have scored three or fewer goals in 135 of their 140 games, the best performance in the majors, and Castillo was able to overcome that shaky command early (along with 24 foul balls) to get eight strikeouts and just four allowed to score hits.
After starting the year trailing “La Piedra” 9-12, the Mariners have now won each of his last eight starts – a promising trend given the time of year and how much he enjoys pitching in October.
The Mariners entered this series with the third-best remaining strength in the AL (.525 winning percentage), behind only the Red Sox (.550) and Rays (.547), and if they reach October, things will get even tougher. But Thursday’s win showed they appear ready for this long run.