The sheer volume of games — about six a week, for a total of 162 — over the course of a six-month season makes baseball’s results random, unlike other sports. It’s not uncommon for the worst team in Major League Baseball to beat the best team more than once.
But there was nothing random or unexpected about Monday night at T-Mobile Park.
The Seattle Mariners — the hottest team in MLB for the past two months — have done exactly what they should do with the Oakland A’s, baseball’s worst team by record and talent.
In one of their most complete performances, showcasing the shutdown pitching that has been so strong all season and a relentless offense that fell short of expectations and now surpasses them, the Mariners defeated the A’s 7-0 in a game, that felt more askew than the score.
“It’s fun to see how it goes,” said manager Scott Servais. “The whole year was all about our pitching. But for us, in addition to pitching, the consistency of our offensive is what matters most. Boys feel it.”
It was the Mariners’ 20th win of August, setting a club record. They have two games left against Oakland to set a new standard.
“That would be pretty cool,” Servais said. “Winning 21 games a month is really hard. This is a credit to our players. You have to show up. You have to get the work done every day. You have to believe in what we do. And they do. That’s the focus for us when it comes down to it. We must continue to prepare in the same way. We can never go into the stadium and say we figured that out.”
With all three teams battling for the AL West title and prevailing in their respective games, the placement stayed the same for a day. The Mariners (75-56) remained alone at the top of the AL West standings, a game ahead of Texas (74-57) and Houston (75-58), who also stayed level on points for the second wild card spot.
After a run through early in the ninth inning, Rangers scored two runs against former Mariners reliever Trevor Gott to secure a 4-3 win at CitiField. In Boston, Jose Altuve scored the decisive goal in the Astros’ decisive 13-5 victory over the Red Sox.
Playing in front of an announced audience of 37,434 spectators, a record 37 to 14 since July 1, went unnoticed by staff and players alike.
“Across the Pacific Northwest, people are excited about where we are, and they should be,” Servais said. “We have an exciting team. We have a very young team. We have a team with personality. If you live in this region, you know that we are easy to please. We can be frustrating at times. But it’s great to see how we’re riding the wave now. Our players deserve it and our fans deserve it.”
It was the biggest Monday crowd at T-Mobile Park since April 10, 2017 against the Astros, this season’s home opener.
“Incredible,” said Julio Rodriguez. “I thought about that when I was in midfield. I just looked around and I was like, “Man, this is really cool, like on a Monday, people are showing their best, showing their love, and showing their energy.” That’s something we need. We’re a pretty good baseball team. We’re playing pretty well. We always need this support.”
The Mariners hit six runs in their first four innings. JP Crawford gave them a lead two pitches into the game. Crawford smashed Oakland starter Kyle Muller’s 1-0 fastball into the deep right-center seats for his fifth leadoff home run of the season and eighth of his career.
Seattle added three more in the third inning. Crawford took the lead with a single and scored on Julio Rodriguez’s 113 mph drive into the right center gap that resulted in a double. Teoscar Hernandez added an RBI single in the inning and Dylan Moore hit a run from a fielder’s choice.
Rodriguez, almost certain to be August’s American League Player of the Month, continued the strong run that has fueled Seattle’s offense. After Crawford hit a one-out walk in the fourth inning, Rodriguez smashed a massive flyball into The Pen for his 24th home run of the season. He has now hit a home run in three straight games.
Rodriguez would add two infield singles to finish with four hits in a game… again. He has five four-goal games in his last 10 games and a total of 28 goals in his last 10 games.
“It feels pretty good, but I spoke to Ichiro and he had 56 hits in a month,” Rodriguez said, laughing. “I’m relaxing. There’s always room for improvement. There’s always things that can be done better. That just helped to make it clear that no matter how hot you are, you’re always trying to keep going.”
The 28 goals in 10 games made Servais smile.
“You have to appreciate it,” he said. “What we’re seeing is historic and it’s crazy to say that for such a young player. I didn’t do that. It is ridiculous. It is difficult. It’s like being back in little league and getting a hit whenever you want. I never had that feeling, but Julio does it at the highest level.”
Rodriguez now has 153 goals this season, the most in the American League, surpassing Toronto’s Bo Bichette with 152.
Working under strict pitch limits, Woo found a way to work longer in the game and consider the decision – pitch with ruthless efficiency.
In his second start since being injured, Woo went six innings scoreless, allowing just three hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Even more impressive is that he managed to throw a total of 69 pitches. It helps if you fire first-pitch shots at 15 of the 20 batters you face and only get three balls in a count once in your outing.
“Bryan has that in his game when he gets suspended and he doesn’t overdo it,” Servais said. “It almost looks like he’s just playing tag in the backyard. He makes it so effortless and the ball just bounces out of the unique arm slot he has.”
With Woo coming back from a forearm strain and starting at minimal depth from injury, the Mariners are even more aware and cautious of his overall use of innings thrown and leverage pitches thrown. This means that this assignment must be canceled now, making him available in the final weeks of the season and possibly in a different role in the postseason.
“Of course, with the pitch count, you get a set number or window of time to work within,” Woo said. “I always try to be efficient. I’m always trying to get deeper into games. I think I’ve managed to do that much better in the past few weeks.”
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