They finally started playing August baseball in September.
It wasn’t long ago when this version of the Mariners – the team that had good starts, hits with runners in scoring position and competent relief work – was piling up wins, setting a team-record 21 in August and forcing series victories all the way into division title consideration.
But all that disappeared when the calendar changed. The starters struggled, strikeouts came at the worst possible time and the bullpen faltered in leverage situations.
Earth, Wind and Fire definitely didn’t sing about September in Seattle.
But on a cool, cozy Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park, they were once again the team stoking excitement in the city and among the fan base for what was expected to be a memorable final month of the regular season.
With a strong start from rookie Bryan Woo, competent hitting with runners in scoring position, highlighted by JP Crawford’s bases-loaded double, the Mariners delivered their most complete performance of the month in a decisive 8-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
“We played a few of them in August,” manager Scott Servais said.
It was the 15th time this season that a Seattle team went scoreless.
“This game comes full circle,” Crawford said. “You go through the highs, you go through the lows. Once you learn how to maintain that consistency by taking it day by day and struggling, you know that eventually things will work out the way you want them to.”
With the win, the Mariners (80-65) tied the Blue Jays, who had lost to the Rangers, and secured the third wild card spot in the American League.
The Rangers (80-64) are a half game ahead of Seattle in the Wild Card and American League standings and are in second place in both standings.
Meanwhile, the AL West race got unexpectedly tighter as the Astros lost to the Athletics for the second straight year. Houston (82-64) has a one-game lead over the Rangers and a 1.5-game lead over the Mariners.
While fans enjoy watching the scores and talking about the league lead, the Mariners’ focus has been on playing better. They were extremely inconsistent in their execution and production over the previous 11 games, losing eight of them.
“What a difference 24 hours make, excellent recovery from our guys today,” Servais said. “I don’t think anyone left here in a very good mood last night considering how things turned out. Thanks to this group. I’ve said all along that they are resilient. They recover and have very short memories. That’s what you need in this game.”
And one thing the Mariners have proven over the past few seasons is that they seem to respond well when they hit rock bottom.
“You can’t look back on the bad games, it’s all in the past,” Crawford said. “You can’t look at the good games, that’s all in the past. You can only look forward to tomorrow’s game.”
But Monday’s 8-5 loss in extra innings to the remaining Angels may have been the worst loss of that time. It’s a game that’s hard to forget. So before the game, Crawford tried something different and decided to cleanse the clubhouse and almost every place the players were of burning sage.
“Games we should win and they don’t go our way. I think it was just time for a little cleanup, a little reset to finish the second half strong,” he said.
Crawford learned it from Mike Cameron, who did everything he could to help the Mariners achieve greater success at Minute Maid Park last season.
“My wife and I do this all the time in our house,” Crawford said. “I just followed Mike Cameron’s steps. I walked past all the lockers and this whole complex trying to get rid of the bad juju.”
While Woo, who hadn’t pitched since Sept. 4, took additional rest as planned and necessary, he looked refreshed and fit on the mound. He pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits with no walks and eight strikeouts, improving to 3-4 on the season. He managed a season-high 20 swings and misses in that game, including 13 on his four-seam fastball.
“I felt good throughout the week,” Woo said. “Skip just said we’ll just give you a few more days. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel great or anything. That was the plan. It’s hard to say it didn’t help. It just gave me a little bit more clarity about what I wanted to focus on this week.”
The focus was on the attack.
“Thinking less and just trusting your abilities is the way to go,” Servais said. “Certainly it’s young pitchers that have that type of fastball. Literally everyone, from the pitching coaches to me, Manny (Acta) and Carson (Vitale), every time Bryan left the dugout, we kept saying, “Attack, attack, attack, stay on offense.” When “If you do that, good things happen.”
The Mariners provided him with plenty of run support. Woo and relievers Eduard Bazardo and Dominic Leone combined to strike out 11 batters and not issue a single walk.
Seattle scored three runs in the first inning off Angels starter Patrick Sandoval and took advantage of Mike Moustakas’ miss on Julio Rodriguez’s hard groundball to third base.
Eugenio Suarez and Ty France produced RBI singles with runners in scoring position for a quick 2-0 lead. Dylan Moore hit Suarez from third base with a double into the left field corner, but France was thrown out at home trying to score from first base.
The Mariners opened the game in the fourth inning. They loaded the bases with one out on three straight singles from France, Moore and Sam Haggerty. After Jose Caballero struck, Crawford got going again. He ripped a deep fly ball to right center that was just out of the reach of Angels centerfielder Brett Phillips. Crawford’s 31st double of the season cleared the bases and gave Seattle a 6-0 lead. But they weren’t finished in the inning. Rodriguez laced a line drive to left to score Crawford to make it 7-0.
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