After a hot start to the season, in which he was named AL Pitcher of the Month in April, Logan Gilbert struggled in August: His ERA for the month had risen to almost 6.75, with a FIP of 5.06. His strikeouts plummeted and his strides rose, leaving Gilbert searching for answers. One answer, he said, was in part to tweak his slider grip, which gave him more consistency and control of the pitch. So far in September, Gilbert has been a one-man wrecking crew. His K% is up to a career-high 34.3% while his walk rate has been slashed to a stingy 6%, and he hasn’t allowed a homer this month. And that data doesn’t even include today, when he abused the Angels through six innings of work, hitting a career-high 11 batters and helping stop a slide that saw an exhausted Mariners team lose the first three games of that series would have.
Gilbert set the tone early on. After the Mariners took an early 1-0 lead thanks to JP Crawford, who led with a single, and Ty France, who smacked a double into left field corner to score JP, Gilbert was determined to keep the Angels in the bottom to keep off the board The first. It took 19 pitches, most of which fought Ohtani in a 12-pitch bout, but Gilbert emerged victorious:
It should also be noted that Gilbert received some pitch count savings from Toro on the third out with a skillful backhand play:
After that, Gilbert donned his Walter hat and swiped sideways in the second, swinging everything, blew a fastball past Taylor Ward at 97 and got Thaiss and Ford both chasing his slider. That slider was key for Gilbert today as the Angels hitters just couldn’t find him; He threw it about a third of the time and posted an outrageous 50% breath rate on the field. Any traffic Gilbert had on bases he managed to sidestep: In the third, Livan Soto snuck a groundball through the four-hole for the Angels’ first shot of the day, but Gilbert beat Sierra on the slider and got the pesky Rengifo to ground harmlessly .
Gilbert found himself in trouble at the end of the fourth: with two outs, including a strikeout from Ohtani, Taylor Ward shot a single down the middle, and then Matt Thaiss went on some very tight squares, bringing in former friend Mike Ford. After a little pep talk from JP, Gilbert engaged Walter Mode and knocked out Ford for three pitches – again the slider, of course – to take out the Angels.
The Mariners’ offense was slow to get off the ground and suffered from a bad case of sequenceitis early on. JP Crawford hit a one-out triple in the third and was stranded. Sam Haggerty hit a two-out double in the fourth and was stranded. Finally, in the fifth, Carlos Santana had had enough. Angels starter Jose Suárez had been dancing in and out of trouble all day, but suffered a complete loss of command in the fifth, leading Curt Casali, not exactly an offensive threat, four squares before allowing Mitch Haniger a single and Ty France with hit a throw on the foot. That brought in Carlos Santana with two outs who showed why a veteran’s presence can be a boon to a team as he patiently waited for a struggling Suarez who fell 3-0 down. After Santana refused to swing on a center-plate shot, Suarez pulled off a pretty good challenge shot — a 91.5 MPH fastball down the outer portion of the plate. If he missed it would be a walk, minimal damage; if he didn’t and Santana didn’t swing, it would be an innings-ending strikeout; If Santana was swinging, he probably wouldn’t make very good contact.
For the last part:
Today, Carlos really lives up to the Slamtana moniker. This 108 MPH gun shot had the highest EV in the game. It was his 18th homer of the season, the 277th of his career, and as he later said, it was his mother’s birthday, so he wanted to give her something special.
Thank you Carlos’ mom for sharing your gift with Mariners fans.
Armed with a five-run lead, Walter/Logan came back in the fifth to blank out the Angels again and beat Moniak, this time through the knuckle curve for a hip strikeout – his ninth strikeout, tying a career high, and somehow his first Called strikeout of the day. Gilbert then followed that up with a strikeout swing against Sierra, setting a new career high, and thanks to his efficiency with his pitches (aside from the Ohtani 12-pitch festival early in the game), he had at least an inning left in the tanks.
The Angels finally caught up with Gilbert in the sixth. With an out, Ohtani, who had already knocked out twice, marked Gilbert with a double down the line; Hard contact followed, allowing Matt Duffy – Dylan Moore almost made an incredible catch down the middle but couldn’t hold on, putting the runners in second and third. An off-bat sac-fly by Taylor Ward brought home a run, but then Gilbert hit Matt Thaiss with his new career-best 11th strikeout, another swing, this time at around 98 MPH gas on Gilbert’s 98th pitch of the day:
Logan Gilbert hits 98 MPH on his 98th pitch of the day for his career-best 11th strikeout, topped by an primal roar/look from Walter: pic.twitter.com/XgdCZUj0dp
— Lookout Landing (@LookoutLanding) September 19, 2022
Gilbert would end up throwing 61% of the first pitch strikes, with 66% of his total pitches being thrown for strikes. He was absolutely dominant at a time when the Mariners needed him most, as he was again in mid-April when the Mariners were on a four-game losing streak and he was leading them to a 5-1 win over the White Sox; He did the same on May 1, allowing a then-hot Marlins team just three hits and one run after the Mariners lost four in a row.
It takes push to underpin a strong pitching performance, however – there are times this season when Gilbert did everything in his power to stop a losing streak, but offense let him down (see: his clash begins in July against Houston when he gave up only two runs in each game and was marked with one loss and one non-decision). Thankfully, that wasn’t a problem today as the Mariners continued to pour it against the Angels’ fluffy bullpen. Zack Weiss held off the Mariners in the sixth but opened up the seventh by hitting JP Crawford with a slider and then leading Mitch Haniger for five pitches on foot. Ty France took the opportunity to play right, doing his best Trout imitation and sending that ball over the midfield wall; oddly, the ball flew right over an advertisement for French frozen yogurt with a small French flag in the middle:
Later, Carlos Santana got his mother an extra gift and added a solo homer to make it 9-1 Mariners.
Meanwhile, Matt Boyd, Diego Castillo and Penn Murfee held things back for the Mariners’ bullpen and made sure there would be no comeback and sweep from the Angels. Boyd made quick work of the Angels in the seventh set, bringing them down 1-2-3 and finishing with a four-pitch strikeout from Livan Soto that didn’t see the rookie take the bat off his shoulder. Boyd touched 95 with his fastball, a good sign as he continues to get back on form after missing most of this season and didn’t have a ball on him from the infield. Boyd got into trouble and resigned in the eighth round, but then it was the Angels’ turn to strand the loaded bases when Diego Castillo came on. Feels good when we’re not! Murfee wrapped things up, and while all the helpers allowed a little more traffic than you’d like, they each logged at least one strikeout to give the Mariners pitching staff 15 punchouts that day. Again, it feels very good when we’re not.
With this win, the Mariners save a game from what would have been a sweep were it not for the stupid lockout schedule, so I thank the owners? Also, the Mariners have the pleasure of officially eliminating the Angels from playoff contention. Kickrocks, Phil Nevin & Co.
The Mariners are now heading up the coast to Oakland for a three-game set with the Athletics before boarding a plane to Kansas City to complete their final road trip of the season. If you can, we’re watching Saturday’s game against the Royals at the Growler Guys on Lake City Way at 4:10 p.m. We had a great time last time so please come by if you can!