Game 34 - Some notes from another series win
The Mariners are barreling toward that 40-game mark.
The offense looked good in Sundayâs 5-4 comeback win over the Astros. They recorded four walks and 10 hits, including five for extra bases. Their .394 xwOBA was their second best mark on the season, behind only a .396 xwOBA on Saturday. They also struck out just eight times, finishing the series at an even 20% âa positive sign after posting double-digit strikeout totals in 10 of the 11 games prior.
The Mariners team wRC+ is back up to 98.
The third base platoon led the charge again on Sunday.
With the bases loaded and nobody out in the second inning, Luis UrĂas drew a six-pitch walk to score the gameâs first run. Josh Rojas immediately followed up with a single to left to make it 2-0.
UrĂas came up big later in the eighth. With the Mariners down 4-3, UrĂas made a half swing on a slider out of the zone and flipped a line drive into left field. Dylan Moore ran the bases perfectly and snuck in just ahead of the tag to tie the game at four.
Rojas and UrĂas now have a combined 168 wRC+, giving the Mariners the second most productive third basemen in MLB.
Much of that is Rojas, who had a walk, a double, and triple on Sunday in addition to the RBI single. His 198 wRC+ is tied for second in MLB with Mookie Betts. Only Shohei Ohtani has been more productive at the plate with a 212 wRC+.
Is Rojas the second best batter in MLB now? Probably not. Heâs running an even .400 BABIP and outpacing his expected results by .058 points of wOBA. Heâs also had similar stretches in the past before returning to comfortably average. In fact, this is only the fourth best stretch of 87 plate appearances heâs had in his career.
But Rojas is also performing well by the underlying metrics. He ranks in the top 20% of the league by CoreScore, with good swing decisions, few whiffs, and a nearly flawless launch angleâhis 47.6% sweet spot rate is fourth best in MLB. Itâs not unreasonable to think he could be a top 50 batter the rest of the way. And even if he does return to his career norm, Rojas has carried the offense through (hopefully) its toughest stretch of the season.
Both Rojas and UrĂas started on Sunday with Mitch Haniger getting the day off. Rojas played left field, and there was an amusing anecdote in The Seattle Times about him needing to borrow an outfielderâs glove from none other than George Kirby. (Rojas hasnât played much outfield since 2021, although thatâs still more recent than Kirby).
UrĂas started at third and made several nice plays. In the first, he made a diving stop but couldnât quite get the out with a low throw across the infield. He made up for it immediately with another diving stop to queue a 6-4-3 double play and end the Astrosâ threat. He also saved an extra base hit on yet another diving stop, although Jeremy Peña simply outran the throw to first.
The Mariners are now tied for second in MLB with three OAA at third base.
Itâs notable that the Mariners chose to work UrĂas into the lineup on Sunday, as theyâve mostly shielded him from righties to this point. I mentioned the other day that one reason the platoon has worked so well is its strict implementationâmore than 60% of Uriasâ at bats have come against lefties; more than 90% of Rojasâ at bats have come against righties. Scott Servais seemed to acknowledge this on Saturday when he said, âJosh is off to a really good start â because he plays against right-handed pitching.â But the Mariners were never going to be able to shield them forever. As injuries, cold streaks, and rest days begin to churn the roster, Iâll be interested to see when and how the Mariners deviate from the platoon and to what effect.
Cal Raleigh came through in the ninth with a clutch home run to give the Mariners their final lead. Raleighâs 111 wRC+ is made up of 12 walks, 14 singles, and eight home runsâhe has yet to hit a double this year.
Luke Raley hit his first home run of the year in the sixth. Raley has started nine of the last 13 games and has a 128 wRC+ over that period. He fended off a challenge for playing time from Jonatan Clase and seems to be the defacto starter against righties, at least until Dom Canzone returns.
Bryce Miller didnât pitch terrible, but he also wasnât greatâfour runs on six hits and a walk was his final line. He generated just six whiffs and struck out only three, and the Astros posted a 50% hard hit rate against him.
Miller was cruising at one point with 56 pitches through five scoreless innings, but he struggled when the Astros began their third time through the order. He needed 21 pitches to get through the sixth, allowing a single to Jose Altuve and a home run to Kyle Tucker. He came back out to start the seventh with a 3-2 lead, but got pulled without recording an out after giving up a single to Peña and another homer to Jon Singleton.
Millerâs 216 tOPS+ when facing a team for the third time is bottom five in MLB this year among qualified starting pitchers. Here are his OPS-against splits by times through the order:
1st - .472
2nd - .533
3rd - .927
Miller finished with a game score of 39. It was just the third time since April 10 a member of the rotation has posted a sub-50 game score. Since then, the Mariners have an average score of 64, by far the highest in MLB.
The bullpen held the Astros scoreless over the final three innings. Ryne Stanek ran into a bit of trouble in eighth, and Andres Muñoz came in for a four-out save (which he completed in just 11 pitches). It was the fifth time this season the Mariners have used Muñoz for multiple innings.
The Mariners have now won seven consecutive series and are 13-5 over the last three weeks. They lead the Rangers by a half game in the AL West.
The Mariners head to Minneapolis next to face the Twins in a four-game series. The Twins had a 12-game winning streak snapped on Sunday.
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