*Photo from the Seattle Times*
In their recent string of success, the Seattle Mariners haven't relied on a star player or a big name to get wins, but the whole team has played, well, like a team. The latest star of the show was Tom Murphy. Murphy hit two home runs, JP Crawford homered, and the Mariners defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Friday night.
Ever since the trade deadline, the Mariners have really been playing some great baseball. Their latest streak has them now with 7 wins in their last 9 games, with 21 games left in the season. Add that to the fact that the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox all lost on Friday, and the Mariners have now inched to one game back of a wild card spot, after they looked out of it in July.
Mariners manager Scott Servais said postgame "Always interesting, always entertaining, the 2021 Mariners. It was a nice, nice way to start the homestand, obviously, with the opportunity to pick up a game in standings tonight, which is really nice, as our guys continue to grind through it."
Crawford got things going right away for the Mariners, with a first inning solo home run giving Seattle an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the second, the D-Backs took a 2-1 lead on a two run home run from Henry Ramos, but a two run homer from Murphy in the bottom of the second quickly put the Mariners back in front 3-2. In the 3rd, Ketel Marte scored on a sac fly by Carson Kelly, tying things at 3-3.
In the 5th, Ty France gave the Mariners the lead back, making it 4-3 on a single to center field that scored Dylan Moore. One ining later, Murphy made the lead 5-3 thanks to a solo home run to center field. In the 8th, Seth Beer hit a solo home run for the D-Backs to cut it to 5-4, but Seattle shut the door from there.
Marco Gonzales got the win for the Mariners, improving to 8-5 this season. Since July 9, a span of 10 starts, Gonzales has put up a 7-0 record with 3 no decisions, turning his performance around brilliantly. He was good again this start, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and one walk, striking out 3 hitters in 6 innings. After he departed, a bullpen combo of Anthony Misiewicz, Casey Sadler, Diego Castillo, and Drew Steckenrider shut down Arizona, with Steckenrider getting his 8th save of the season.
Servais said of another good start from Gonzales that "With his ability to locate the fastball at the top rail of the strike zone, he's as good as anybody. He's got a ton of confidence out there for a guy throwing 88-90, he's not afraid. And when he gets it going in that little portion of the strike zone, it’s really tough to hit because it's so unique."
For the D-Backs, it was a special night for Beer. The 12th overall prospect in their system, according to MLB pipeline, who got to Arizona in the Zack Greinke trade in 2019, was making his MLB debut, and came off the bench to pinch hit in the 8th inning, when he took Castillo deep. It was a home run in his first MLB at bat, a special night for the D-Backs, despite the loss.
Beer said "I kind of went from one dream to another dream. Of course every kid when they think about coming up in the big leagues and getting the chance to hit, your first thought is, 'Oh man, I’d love to hit a homer. That's like the best thing you can possibly do.’ So I kind of moved from that dream to the one now. I'm just floating on cloud nine right now. It's just so special."
Madison Bumgarner did get hit with the loss for the D-Backs, falling to 7-10 this season. Bumgarner allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and one walk, fanning 6 hitters in 6 innings pitched. Noe Ramirez and Miguel Aguilar made relief appearances, neither allowing a run.
Seattle and Arizona continue their series tonight, with Chris Flexen toeing the rubber as the Mariners look to keep winning, while Humberto Castellanos looks to put a stop to that as he starts for the D-Backs.
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