SEATTLE — Logan Gilbert admitted he’d love the chance to throw his first career complete game. Retiring 22 of the last 23 on an economical 77 pitches, he was as likely as he could be all season.
But the conversation from Markers manager Scott Service was intentional — and well-received. Seattle was coming off a 13-game streak without any days off and Oakland’s top order was on a roll, so Service turned to Paul Sewald to complete a four-game sweep with a 3-2 win at T-Mobile Park on Thursday. The A’s.
“Especially at that point and being so close to the end, I always want to keep going,” Gilbert said. “So I thought I might have a chance with where the pitch count was. But I mean, we’ve got the best bullpen in baseball.”
Gilbert has flown under the radar in an incredibly productive season for all that his riding buddies have accomplished.
The Seattle right-hander matched a career-high with eight innings, and the offense broke through in the eighth to lift the Mariners to two games over .500 (26-24) for the first time this year.
Ty France crushed two solo homers — his first multi-homer game against Seattle — before the Mariners loaded the bases in the eighth to Eugenio Suarez, who drew a walk to bring home the winning run.
“That’s how we win baseball games,” France said. “We’re just kind of a team. We’re not going to go out and score 10 runs every night and beat them to death. So I’m not too surprised by the at-bats we took.
France has put to rest doubts over the health of his left-hander, who was hit by a 94.5mph fastball on Tuesday and forced him to miss Wednesday’s game. Julio Rodriguez posted improved times with a 101.8 mph, inside-out single in the first and a 100.6 mph single to the right-center gap in the eighth, setting up Mariners’ 14th comeback win of the year.
But the star of the day was Gilbert, who pitched the Mariners’ MLB-leading 28th quality start and is establishing himself as a complete pitcher.
“It’s not an easy decision, but Logan understands,” Service said. “The funny thing is, I’ve been talking to him about when to empty the tank. When you get to that 80-pitch mark, that’s it. He goes, ‘I’ve never even had 80 pitches.’ He’s in a good place.”
Gilbert turned to his fastball more than he did last time in Atlanta, even with a mix of all four pitches. But it’s the strength of secondary pitches, especially from the spreader, that makes it stand out even more.
“That’s probably the first time in my career that I’ve been consistently saying that,” Gilbert said as he clicked all four pitches at once.
“I think going into spring training, I was kind of testing the waters and I felt really good about it. The slide, while that has been somewhat inconsistent in the past, I feel really good about it. [Same with] The curve. So, after a couple of starts here, and working with the guardians, seeing when things play out better, I think I feel better.
Gilbert gave up a double to Ryan Noda and a two-run homer to Seth Brown in the first inning, his second straight outing in the opening frame, but allowed just one baserunner the rest of the way to dominate. He also had 6 hits, tying Luis Castillo for the team lead with 69 on the season.
Gilbert also issued zero free passes for the second time in 10 starts, lowering his walk rate to 4.3%, eighth among 72 qualified pitchers. George Kirby (2.2%) leads that group, and Bryce Miller (2.7%) will be in that range if he has enough innings to qualify. Gilbert’s 25.3% strikeout rate trails Spencer Strider (32.5%) and Kevin Gausman (27.6%), two early Cy Young Award candidates.
“He’s mixing up his words more, and I think that’s helping him,” French said of Gilbert. “And it saves him pitches in the long run. He’s not trying to hit everybody anymore. He knows he’s got a good defense behind him, and we’re ready to work for him.”