Sailors unearth new cult hero, triumph 5-3

Remember how depressed we all felt after those two Houston beatings? Can you believe it was only two days ago? Sure, the Mariners picked up a ridiculous win in extra innings and screwed up Minute Maid, but they weren’t out of the divisional glove yet. I can think of so many Mariners / A games played here that were the definition of baseball purgatory: low scores, sparse assist, temperamental drums and whistles throughout. Once Mark Canha, Matt Olson and Yan Gomes combined to take out Marco Gonzales late in the first inning using a pair of singles, a double steal and a defensive player pick, my guard was in. place for another of these games. To his credit, Marco fell down after the start of the race and scored the next eight in a row before leaving a 1-2 change center cut for Gomes to devour.

Again, although Marco pressed down, seating Jed Lowie and Josh Harrison to complete the fourth and gut a fifth inning in which he struck out Chad Pinder, Sean Murphy and Elvis Andrus in order with a total of 21 throws. I’m pretty sure Murphy’s 11 throws at batting are the longest I’ve ever plotted, and I was very impressed with the way Marco threw curve after curve before finally bringing him on a perfect exterior change for easy take down.

With Gonzales in bulldog mode, the Mariners had a chance. Sadly, Paul Blackburn – the forgotten man in the trades of Daniel Vogelbach and Danny Valencia – walked out the door with one of the best games of his fringe career and scattered across the big leagues. Never one to miss many bats, his leadership remained nearly impeccable for five innings, and he tied a career-high five strikeouts against no walks – although tonight’s ump considered the strike zone. as a more suggestion for both parties. Abraham Toro and Jarred Kelenic (!) Both hit a single in the second to put it on the ropes, and a wild two-out pitch moved them both, but Cal Raleigh smoked a line drive straight to Starling Marte for end the threat. And really, when he’s as focused as that pullout against Toro, a reluctant little part of you might be forced to tip your cap.

Imagine the relief I felt in sixth grade. JP, finally for the third time against Blackburn, led the frame with a clean single after beating an eight-throw battle, and Mitch Haniger made a 1-1 suspended curve what you’d expect from the guy with a top. in career home runs this year to go, knocking Blackburn out of the game. And hey, did you know that the Mariners are one of two teams to have two guys with at least 29 dingers?

The bats couldn’t scratch another Andrew Chafin round, but I would be remiss if I didn’t touch Abraham Toro’s single. Toro, despite strong overall numbers with Seattle, had seen a slight decline tonight, having reduced only 0.222 / 0.324 / 0.244 in the past two weeks. Mediocre as it sounds, however, he found a way to reach base seemingly every night, and that swing of control may have been the epitome of it.

Who cares that nothing else came out of it? This right there is pure and distilled chaos, and was only a harbinger of things to come. Marco got the first two strikeouts of the sixth with a little help from his defense. had come out of a few steps. As much as the Mariner fandom has given Bauers in recent months, this isn’t the first time he’s shown an excellent arm from the corners of the outfield in a key location, and if you asked me now, I would say that it is his best tool. Who said he had no goal? This also proved crucial – Olson immediately demolished a high curve from Gonzales to regain the lead. Gomes was pulled off a field later, and Marco’s night was over. Not quite the dominance he has shown against Texas in recent weeks, but his leadership was precise. Tonight was only his second start of the year without allowing for a walk, and I can’t stress enough how huge his second-half comeback has been for the club.

Sadly, any hope that he would take the pitcher’s victory was dashed by Chafin sticking around to tear up the bottom of the M’s roster, and to be fair, I didn’t expect Jarred Kelenic, Cal Raleigh or Bauers are doing a lot against him. Erik Swanson worked around a starting double to keep the A’s off the board late in the seventh, and the reliever war was on. Sergio Romo made his way all the way to eighth, harnessing his veteran magic to initiate drops and changes the top of the order couldn’t crack. Anthony Misiewicz was next, and he too got out of a jam, which was caused by a rare Seager pitch error and a walkout before rushing forward to coax a double play from Olson’s bat. Still, things weren’t right. Lou Trivino’s command and strikeouts may be down this year, but in terms of results he had been on a roll, and his dominance of the past few seasons has remained fresh on my mind.

Ty France put these worries to bed without hesitation.

It’s the second home run of the ninth inning tied for him. He has his own promotion at T-Mobile on Thursday. His wRC + is over 130, he has been the team’s most valuable player by both bWAR and fWAR, and the most beloved of all, he has been a more defensive first baseman. Give Tyler Lawrence France a lifetime contract and also check out the new BreakingT jersey celebrating it. At this point, the narrative started to build. What a great time for the children! Can you imagine how good it would be for Kelenic or Raleigh to qualify for the playoffs? Content and tweets would write themselves!

Alas, it didn’t work out that way. Trivino sank in after falling behind Jarred 3-1 to bury him on two back-to-back changes, and Raleigh was able to reach 2-2 before beating a high and distant fastball. It was up to Jake Bauers, perhaps the most maligned Mariner on the active list, to deliver. I heard the collective moans, the calls for the return of José Marmolejos’ load. Jake struggled with a first change of tone, and the speech started to get carried away. He fired a second down, took a looping curve for a strike, and watched a fastball miss the outside edge by a few inches. The takes were locked and loaded, and ready to shoot in the blink of an eye.

Trivino hit back with another change, just off the plate but left at belt height, and Bauers engaged.

Those clicks you hear are everyone frantically trying to delete their old tweets, texts, and game feed comments calling for Jake Bauers’ head, and despite the absurdity of it all, he was responsible for both launches. After one last drink of an easy stolen base, he wouldn’t score, but the damage was done. Paul Sewald slammed the door, and all of a sudden the Mariners won a game against Oakland and Houston.

Every miracle season has a few cult heroes, and sometimes they take longer to find each other. Jake Bauers struggled most of the year. His brace in yesterday’s game was his first extra base hit in nearly two months. Although he’s only 25, his overall work in the Majors hasn’t been great, and leaving the league before his late 20s is a real possibility. Tonight, however, he was the hero on the plate and on the pitch. Will he cry after this? Probably not. But I know I’ll be back on that team in ten years, playing Remember Some Guys with a bunch of friends, and at some point Jake Bauers will be coming, and I’ll remember when he shone in a critical moment. And really, how awesome will that be?