M’s Take Care of Inferior A’s With Four-Game Sweep

It was the first four of ten in a row at home, and it was the exact result that the doctor ordered. The Oakland Athletics are historically bad this season. Now with a record of 10-42, the A’s rank league-worst in batting average (.222) and ERA (6.88). Though Seattle’s team batting average ranks 26th at .229, pitching has been their strong suit, with a third-best 3.45 ERA, allowing only 34 home runs, and 123 walks, which are both best in the league.

All 6:40 PM starts in sunny Seattle ended with wins for the home team. Two lopsided, and two one-run wins now has the Mariners two games over .500, and slowly starting to make noise in the American League West. Texas continues to lead the division, but Houston, Los Angeles and the M’s are all within striking distance.

Before we look ahead to Pittsburgh coming to town, here is a look at the four-game sweep, starting Monday night with Luis Castillo looking to get back on track for Seattle against lefty Kyle Muller.

Jarred Kelenic reached double digits in home runs this season after his missile, 112 MPH two-run shot in the first. In the following inning, rookie Jose Caballero hit his second home run of his career and in consecutive games. His 418-foot laser over the left field wall scored three and gave the M’s a 5-0 lead.

Castillo picked apart the A’s in the opener: eight strikeouts over six innings, and no runs for Oakland.

Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez both had three hits. Eugenio Suarez, Caballero, and Kelenic all had three RBIs, as Seattle routed the A’s Monday night, 11-2 the final.

Tuesday night was veteran Marco Gonzales up against hard-throwing rookie Luis Medina.

This game was a lot more of a competitive contest than the night prior. Oakland got on the board early on singles by Ramon Laureano and Carlos Perez before Marco was able to record the first three outs.

Following the first, this game was offense-less until the home fifth. After Tom Murphy got aboard via a double with two outs, J.P. Crawford dug in against Medina. He did nothing but knot this game at two apiece with his second home run of the season. A few pitches later, and Seattle’s Ty France had the M’s up by one after his back-to-back jack, a 420-foot solo bomb.

Ty France was later pegged in the wrist/hand by Oakland’s Trevor May in the eighth, where he collapsed and had M’s fans worried. He was able to stay in the game but was later pulled for safety reasons.

After the first, Marco was nails. He finished after six innings, striking out four, allowing only five hits. Following the “Bulldog”, it was Trevor Gott, Justin Topa and Paul Sewald. Five strikeouts between the three of them, without allowing a single base runner. Seattle took game two of four by a score of 3-2.

Going for the series win on Wednesday, it was Miller time in T-Mobile Park. Bryce Miller was on the bump, looking to continue his historic start to his career, and earn win number three of his rookie campaign.

This game was scoreless until Seattle exploded for five in the fourth. A bases-loaded double by switch-hitter Sam Haggerty (his first RBIs of the season) got the Mariners on the scorecard. Following “Swaggerty” was J.P. Crawford and J-Rod, who kept the scoring train in motion on consecutive run-scoring singles. Cal Raleigh was later walked in the inning, which scored J.P. and in the blink of an eye, it was 5-0 Seattle.

Forgive me if you have heard this before, but Bryce Miller was again sensational. He went six strong and scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, striking out six.

Teoscar Hernandez added to the lead on his solo shot into the ‘Pen, which was more than enough for Seattle to cruise to their third-consecutive victory. Final from Wednesday: SEA 6, OAK 1.

Looking to break out the brooms Thursday, it was Logan Gilbert up against J.P. Sears. Sears has actually been extremely solid against the M’s dating back to late last season. Going into his fifth career start against Seattle, he carried in a 0.41 ERA into the series-finale.

He was again strong, where he went five innings, allowing one run. That one run was a solo home run by Ty France, who was back in the lineup, in the first inning.

Oakland actually got the scoring going first in the opening inning, thanks to a two-run home run by Seth Brown. It was a 2-1 Oakland lead for a majority of the game, and that was until France stepped up to the plate for third time of the game.

Off of Trevor May, France hit an almost-identical solo home run in the sixth. It was his first career multi-homer game in a Seattle uniform, and it tied this game at two.

Logan was money after the first. In just 77 pitches, he went eight complete innings, striking out six. After his exit, the M’s offense picked up Logan in the home eighth. A Jose Caballero walk, Julio Rodriguez double and intentional walk to Jarred Kelenic loaded the bases for Eugenio Suarez. With two outs, he walked on five pitches by Garrett Acton, scoring France to give Seattle the lead late Thursday night.

Paul Sewald entered in the top of the ninth and stayed perfect on save opportunities this season. Striking out two in the inning, Sewald earned his 11th save, as Seattle swept away the A’s.

Seattle is now two games above .500 for the first time of the season, after winning five of their last six games. Pittsburgh is in town for the first time since September of 2019. Their record of 25-24 is similar to Seattle’s 26-24 record. The “Buccos” are coming off a series loss to the Texas Rangers, and they are in second place in the NL Central, just 1.5 back of the Milwaukee Brewers. The M’s will get a heavy-dose of right handers starting tonight.

Pitching probables for PIT @ SEA:

• Friday 5/26 @ 7:10 PM: RHP George Kirby (5-3, 2.62 ERA) vs RHP Mitch Keller (5-1, 2.44 ERA)
• Saturday 5/27 @ 1:10 PM: RHP Luis Castillo (3-2, 2.97 ERA) vs RHP Roansy Contreras (3-4, 4.50 ERA)
• Sunday 5/28 @ 1:10 PM: LHP Marco Gonzales (4-1, 5.68 ERA) vs RHP Luis L. Ortiz (1-2, 4.02 ERA)

American League West standings as of Friday morning:

• 1.Texas Rangers (31-18)
• 2.Houston Astros (28-21), 3.0 GB
• 3.Los Angeles Angels (28-23), 4.0 GB
• 4.Seattle Mariners (26-24), 5.5 GB
• 5.Oakland Athletics (10-42)