*Photo from the Rocky Mountain Outlook*
We witnessed the return of a certain late game monster in the lineup. Eugenio Suarez homered, Abraham Toro hit the go ahead homer, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Detroit Tigers with a 5-3 victory on Wednesday night in Detroit.
This win marks the 3rd straight win for the Mariners, dating back to their previous series. They clinched the series win against the Tigers with their second win in the 3 game set. They also now sit just a half game back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the top wild card spot, and Toro is a big reason why.
Mariners manager Scott Servais said of Toro that "He's gotten a lot of big hits. Everybody looks at his batting average and the inconsistencies, but the home runs or the big hits late in games has won us quite a few games that he’s been out there and able to produce for us. So, good for him."
The Mariners got on the board immediately in this one. Suarez got it started, hitting a two run home run to right field to make it 2-0. In the second inning, Jeimer Candelario got the Tigers on the board with an RBI single to cut it to 2-1, and then a fielders choice from Willi Castro scored Kerry Carpenter to tie the game at a 2-2 score.
In the 6th inning, Candelario gave the Tigers the lead, making it a 3-2 game on an RBI single, scoring Eric Haase. One inning later, in the 7th, Toro came up and delivered, blasting a go ahead two run home run to put the Mariners ahead by a 4-3 score. In the 9th, Ty France got an insurance run with a bases loaded walk to make it a 5-3 game.
Getting the start in the middle game of the series was Marco Gonzales, who allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and one walk in 6 innings, getting the win. Andres Munoz came on and pitched a shutout 7th inning, followed by one inning from both Erik Swanson and Paul Sewald, with Sewald getting the save.
Gonzales broke down his start, saying that "I felt like I just wasn't trusting my stuff. I felt like I was aiming the ball a little bit and not letting it go. And after that, through the third and until the end of my outing, I just thought, ‘OK, if I'm going to get through this game, I just need to really go and stop trying to figure it out. Just pitch.'"
Starting opposite Gonzales was Detroit's Tyler Alexander, who allowed two runs on 4 hits and one walk in 4 2/3 innings pitched. Jason Foley pitched the next 1 1/3 innings, before Alex Lange was charged with two runs in one inning. Joe Jimenez and Gregory Soto also pitched an inning.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch said that "There are jobs to be won here. There’s also experience to be gained. It’s important for us, it’s important for the organization, it’s important for the players to kind of lay it all out there. It doesn’t mean these guys have to get a hit in every single at-bat or make every single play, but all of the young players that are going to be here in September need to learn what it takes to be successful at this level, and not just compete at this level. We can get anybody to compete. We need to find the guys that can learn the fastest and grow the fastest and be contributors at this level."
Up next, the Mariners and Tigers conclude their series on Thursday afternoon. Logan Gilbert gets the start for Seattle, while Eduardo Rodriguez starts for the Tigers.
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