After losing three of four in Houston and the craziness that was the MLB Trade Deadline, Seattle rebounded well against baseball’s best squad, winning the final two of the three game series at Yankee Stadium.
When the plane departed out of Houston, the Mariners knew they would be without their top two offensive options: Julio Rodriguez and Ty France. Both these two are dealing with wrist issues, where Rodriguez currently sits on the 10-Day IL and France is day-to-day. There was a chance Ty could play in a game against New York, but that did not end up being the case.
Going into NY, Seattle knew they would come in as underdogs, but that added fuel to their fire. MLB fans penciled Wednesday’s matinee with newcomer Luis Castillo toeing the rubber against NYY and Gerrit Cole.
As the two teams were preparing for game two of three, the MLB Trade Deadline was in full force. Here were a few blockbuster trades that went down right before the clock struck 3:00 P.M. on Tuesday:
- Juan Soto, Josh Bell, and Josh Hader to San Diego
- Frankie Montas and Lou Trivino to NYY
- Trey Mancini to Houston
- Noah Syndergaard to Philly
- And of course, Luis Castillo to Seattle
Rewind back to Monday, where it was the series opener, where it was Marco Gonzales up against Domingo German. It was only German’s third appearance this year after returning from injury and this one was all Yankees. Potential 2022 MVP Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Jose Trevino all went yard against Gonzales. This one was virtually over after the second, where New York jumped out to a 5-1 lead, where it was 3-0 after one. The game ended 7-2 in favor of the Bronx Bombers.
The middle game was a different story. Eugenio Suarez hit a two-run shot off of Jameson Taillon in the top of the first to give Seattle their first lead in the series. The M’s added a run in two consecutive innings, and then New York finally made it interesting. The Yankees responded with three of their own in the home fourth. Mid-season addition Carlos Santana hit a two-run double to increase the lead back to three, but that didn’t last long at all. New York got to Logan Gilbert again in the sixth to tie it.
I bet not one person ever expected Sam Haggerty to pinch hit for former top-prospect Jarred Kelenic. Believe it or not, he did such that and the move paid off extremely well. He smacked a go-ahead pinch-hit bomb in the seventh. Adam Frazier, who has been scorching at the dish, added an insurance run in the ninth to make it 8-6 Seattle. Things got very interesting in the last half inning, where the bases were loaded with two outs for Gleyber Torres. Andres Munoz, who hit 102-103 MPH a few times in the inning, eventually struck out Torres and the side to take game two.
Like mentioned earlier, Wednesday’s game was an intriguing one, solely based off the pitching matchup. Newcomer and All-Star Luis Castillo was making his Mariner-debut against NY’s ace, Gerrit Cole. If you are a baseball bettor, no chance you had the over in this one. That, surprisingly, is where you went wrong.
Seattle had a dream start. Suarez went yard again in the first inning for the second consecutive game, this time it was worth three runs. Santana, hitting cleanup, cranked one off of Cole directly after Suarez, and Seattle still wasn’t done. Kelenic got off the schneid for a two-run shot, making it 6-0 M’s after one. New York had no chance against Castillo, who was nails in his debut. If it wasn’t for Umpire C.B. Bucknor, he would have exited the game with one earned over 6 2/3 innings, striking out eight (he finished with three earned). Seattle certainly couldn’t have asked for more out of Luis Castillo, who recently re-dyed his hair from Cincinnati red to Seattle blue, and got the win in his first start as a Mariner. Jesse Winker added a solo blast as well, and Seattle won the game 7-3, and the series.
It’s a happy flight home for several reasons. It is a well-deserved day off tomorrow and “Fight Night” part two against the badly scuffling LA Angels beginning Friday night. Seattle also has the chance to not only get Ty France back in the lineup, but Mitch Haniger as well, who has been rehabbing with the Tacoma Rainiers.
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