Mariners Look To Sweep Tigers

The Seattle Mariners beat the Detroit Tigers Saturday afternoon 8-1. Marco Gonzales continues pitching well for the second month in a row. He went seven innings giving up six hits, one run, no walks and striking out eight.  Gonzales now has a record of 12-8. He is now one win away from his total of last year.

The Tigers scored first getting their only run of the game in the third inning. The Mariners got at least one hit from every player who started except Domingo Santana.

The Mariners scored three runs in the fourth inning to take the lead for good. Ryan Court making his first start in the major leagues playing the first time in right field had a single to drive in a run in the fourth inning. Later he hit a double in the seventh inning driving in two of the four runs.

Court and Austin Nola carry a big stick since being promoted to Seattle were the big heroes. Nola had two hits in the game driving in three runs as well. So these two players who didn’t start the season in Seattle or had any plans to be in a Mariner uniform playing their first times in the majors' leagues counted for six of the Mariners eight runs.

While Court made his major league debut he was playing the first time in his life in right field in place of Domingo Santana. Having missed a couple games because of a poor shoulder Santana took his spot at designated hitter.

Catcher Omar Narvaez continued his hot hitting having four hits on Saturday scoring two runs though he didn’t drive in a run. Also, Tim Beckham another good day having three hits driving in a run. He made an outstand catch and throw in the 9^th inning. He caught the ball while running than throwing the ball to Court at first base to make a double. Court moved from right field to first base in the 9^th inning.

It was a fun game for sure to watch. Oh yes, can’t forget this game was the first where neither team hit a home run in a Mariner game this season. They had the record which now ends at 107 games. Though it would have been nice to keep the streak alive the game in itself was exciting to watch.

News came during the game the Mariners acquired outfielder Keon Broxton off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles. Broxton is known for his defense more than his offense. He was hitting .204 with four home runs for the Orioles after he was acquired from the New York Mets on May 22.

This is now the fourth team Broxton has played for in the major leagues. He began his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates than traded to the Milwaukee Brewers. He only played a handful of games for the Pirates and he played for the Brewers three seasons before being traded to the Mets during this last off-season.  He did show some power in 2017 where he hit 20 home runs but not much of anything else since.

Broxton is many known for his defense playing in center field. A major reason the Mariners picked him up though they believe can help him turn his hitting around too. We will see, wouldn’t we? Picking him up on waivers means the Mariners don’t have much to lose especially this season.

The Mariners still haven’t made a move on the trading front as of yet. Jerry Dipoto has four days remaining to make a trade of one of their players who might be able to bring back a prospect in return. The two likely players are pitcher Mike Leake and utility player Tim Beckham. They are both doing well right now so getting a decent prospect in return could happen. The Mariners don’t really have anyone else to trade at this time with much value unless they decide to trade Marco Gonzales, however, he is considered part of the Mariners future. In his case, the Mariners would have to get a good prospect in return to do so.

The Mariners are expected to go with an opener once again on Sunday with Tommy Milone expected to come in either the second or third inning. The Mariners haven’t announced as of yet who the opener will be.

Having beaten the Tigers three of the games so far going with an opener again is a good idea continue to see how it works out.  The Mariners will head to Arlington Texas to take on the Texas Rangers then onto to Houston over next weekend to face the Astros. The Mariners do have Monday and Thursday off. So the players continue to have a lot of rest days since the all-star break. Besides having August 1^st off the Mariners have four other off-days in August. Three of the four days will take place in the first half of the month. In September the Mariners will have one day off per week. The season ends for them on September 29^th at home against the Oakland A’s. Go M’s.