– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS — The Seattle Mariners finally got a big blast from their premier hitter in the lineup on Tuesday night, all the while continuing their sparkling work on the mound.
Logan Gilbert threw 6 2/3 shutout innings to lead the Mariners to a 4-0 victory over the Texas Rangers inside Globe Life Field, Seattle’s sixth win in its last seven games. Cal Raleigh gave Gilbert a lead to work with before the latter’s first pitch by blasting a two-run home run in the first inning, while Julio Rodríguez crushed his first home run of the season, also a two-run shot, in the third inning.
“That’s a typical Mariners game right there: a couple of homers and great pitching,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “And you look it up and we’re on the right side of it.”
Rodríguez’s blast off Rangers starter Dane Dunning sailed 435 feet and landed halfway up the second deck in left-center field, a blast that seemed to let out all of the frustrations that the 23-year-old two-time All-Star might have been feeling leading up to that mighty swing.
“Being able to get that good pitch and being able to drive it like how I know I can, it definitely felt good,” Rodríguez said. “There have been a lot of mistakes that I’ve been just on them, but just fouling it off. But on that one, I definitely did not miss it.”
Gilbert’s outing set a franchise record with the team’s 11th consecutive game with a starter working at least five innings while allowing two earned runs or fewer. Throwing 100 pitches on the night, Gilbert struck out six and walked four as he was removed with two outs in the seventh with runners on first and third for Texas. Reliever Ryan Stanek came in and retired the only batter he faced, getting Leody Taveras to ground out to short.
Gabe Speier and Andrés Muñoz worked a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, to complete the shutout.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s contest, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 26 pictures in total.
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