*Photo from 710 ESPN Seattle*
It was Abraham Toro vs Kendall Graveman, a matchup that seemed like destiny. Main pieces of a deadline day trade facing off against each other, game on the line. We can chalk this one up to Toro. Yusei Kikuchi threw 7 innings, Toro hit a grand slam, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Houston Astros 4-0 on Tuesday night.
Toro said of the approach in his at bat that "Before that, I was just really trying to swing as hard as I could. And that's why I was under the baseball. And then when I got to two strikes, I just kept it simple, stayed straight to the baseball."
The trade done at the deadline was Toro and Joe Smith being traded to the Mariners, with Graveman and Rafael Montero heading to the Astros. The players involved have had good success with their new teams since the trade, but this just felt like destiny, like it was drawn up. This time, it was Toro who got the win.
The game stayed scoreless most of the time, the only runs coming off the grand slam from Toro, off a 96 mile an hour sinker, in the 8th inning against Graveman. The reaction of both players, Toro staring as he dropped his bat, and Graveman jumping and landing in front of the mound, it was clear that they both knew it was a grand slam immediately. It was the first grand slam of Toro's career.
Mariners manager Scott Servais said of Toro's at bat against Graveman that "It's crazy how this game, things work out and things line up, where the two guys that were traded for each other and the game's on the line. Unbelievable at-bat by Toro to hang in there against Graveman, and he got one that he didn't miss and put a heck of a swing on it."
Paul Sewald got the win in relief for the Mariners, pitching a shutout 8th inning to improve to 9-3 on the season. It was Kikuchi who did most of the heavy lifting, throwing 7 shutout innings in his start, allowing 4 hits and two walks while striking out 4 hitters. New Mariner Sean Doolittle, recently claimed off waivers, finished off the win in the 9th inning.
Graveman dropped to 5-1 on the season for the Astros, getting hit with the loss while getting just one out in his relief appearance. Lance McCullers Jr got the start for Houston, throwing 5 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 3 hitters. In relief for the Astros was Graveman, Yimi Garcia, Blake Taylor, and Brandon Bielak.
Asked about the at bat with Toro, Graveman said "I tried to go back off the front hip with a sinker and just missed a little bit on the plate. He did a good job getting the barrel there. He’s put together some good at-bats against us. He’s a good player. For me, personally, I wouldn’t change anything really that about that at-bat, maybe a little bit further in on that last pitch. Tip your hat."
The Mariners and Astros conclude their series Wednesday afternoon, with Logan Gilbert starting the series finale for the Mariners, and Jake Odorizzi getting the start for the Astros.
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