SAN DIEGO — Since they’ve taken responsibility for their failures and accepted full accountability for this three-week stretch of playoff struggles and losses, and the inconsistency of the season as a whole, they can also take credit for their successes and celebrate their performance. Of course, the pessimists will point out that it was just one productive game in a season filled with so many games where he’s been inconsistent.
But it’s not just how or why the Mariners found the production that gives hope for better days ahead, it’s more important who provided it and what they mean to this team’s overall success going forward.
Tuesday’s 8-3 win over the Padres at Petco Park felt like more than just a temporary reprieve from the Mariners’ poor baseball. It felt like a reset with an opportunity to reconnect with their previous success.
“It was a fun game,” manager Scott Servais said. “We got our at-bats working tonight. It’s exactly the type of game we’re looking for to start this journey and hopefully continue that momentum tomorrow.”
After quadriceps issues forced him out of Saturday’s game after just one inning and kept him out of the starting lineup Sunday, Julio Rodriguez returned to the starting lineup in his usual spot in center field and as a cleanup hitter. He had his best game of the year, going 4 for 4 with a huge solo home run into the top deck.
“It shows the character of this team,” Rodriguez said. “You’re going to have tough times during the season, but what are you going to do about it? You’ve got to continue to rise to the occasion. I think the intensity that you bring to the game and what you bring to the table every day, it’s a choice. Every time we go through a tough time, we come back and we give it our all.”
Cal Raleigh, who served as a spokesman after Sunday’s loss in Seattle, leaving little doubt that the players were the root cause of the failures and the only ones who could fix them, backed up his furious self-criticism. Batting behind Rodriguez in the fifth, Raleigh hit two two-run homers — one from each side of the plate — and added a double later in the game.
“I thought we had a good day overall,” Raleigh said. “We were aggressive early in the game. We saw that early and it was really good to see. We had some hits and some traffic on the bases and we had some home runs today, which was good.”
It was the second time in his career that Raleigh hit a home run from both sides of the plate in a game. He is the only Mariners player to do so twice.
The Mariners had 13 hits, including six extra-base hits. It was one of the few times they had more hits than strikeouts (11) in a game. Jorge Polanco added two hits and Ty France added an RBI double.
“Our guys are really focused,” Servais said. “They know they can play more consistently on offense. I’m really excited about what we saw tonight. Now we have to carry that momentum into the next day and keep that momentum going. You’re not going to score eight runs every night, but it’s the quality of at-bats from everyone in the lineup and the amount of guys that contribute. That’s what it takes. That’s the way this team is built. We haven’t seen it happen consistently, but we saw some really good signs tonight.”
The Mariners are eagerly awaiting Rodriguez to find his timing and approach. Will it happen?
“What I see is that I’m competing,” Rodriguez said. “Sometimes I might be behind in a count, but it doesn’t matter. We play three strikes. I always keep that in mind when I’m competing. And that’s what I did tonight. It’s got to be three strikes and I’m not going to give you that like that. Like you’re going to get me, kudos to you. But I’m not going to give it to you.”
The Mariners’ two-star offense overshadowed another strong performance by Logan Gilbert, making his first start since being named an American League All-Star. He pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts to improve to 6-5 on the season.
Heading into the game, the Padres were averaging 5.02 runs and 9.2 hits per game since June, while posting a .270/.326/.450 batting average with 49 home runs over those 34 games.
Gilbert held the Padres to zero runs through the first six innings, allowing just an infield single. His second hit came with one out in the seventh inning on a solo home run by Jake Cronenworth.
With his pitch count largely under control, Gilbert appeared to have a chance to win a complete game. But he gave up a two-run home run in the eighth inning to Kyle Higashioka, which ended his outing with two outs in the inning, much to his chagrin.
“I wasn’t very happy,” Gilbert said. “It was pretty frustrating to throw for two hours and kind of mess it up at the end, but credit to him. I threw a good slider on the second pitch and then, obviously, everybody in the park probably knew I was throwing it again after the swing and miss. I just couldn’t get it in the right spot.”
Gilbert was coldly efficient against the Padres. He needed just 37 pitches to complete four innings and threw just 61 pitches in six innings. A complete game and a sub-100-pitch “Maddux” seemed possible.
“I always think about a complete game and I always aim for that,” Gilbert said. “At one point, I thought the scoreboard was wrong in the fourth inning when I looked up. I guess I wasn’t really paying attention. You just go from batter to batter and forget about it. You’re 30 or 40 pitches in or whatever. And I’m like, ‘Man, this is going pretty fast.’ You’ve got to try to be really aggressive and force contact.”
Gregory Santos made his highly anticipated debut, going scoreless in the ninth inning. The power-throwing relief pitcher didn’t make the game boring. He got into a conversation with Jurickson Profar after the Padres All-Star didn’t appreciate a pair of sliders that went inside on him. Santos quickly threw a 100-mph sinker for a strike. After retiring Profar on a ground ball, Santos had more words for him.
“Big Gregory is a mean man,” Servais said. “Wow. He’s kind of a competitor. I loved the emotion. He’s going to be fun to watch. He’s a mean man.”
THE SCORE OF THE BOX