SEATTLE — Logan Gilbert only covered three innings, was tagged for some loud contact and saw the Mariners’ three-run lead in the first evaporate quickly, all in a hostile road environment.
In those tense moments during Game 2 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night, no one could’ve envisioned that by the time the dust settled, Mariners manager Dan Wilson would be able to avoid using his three highest-leverage relievers.
Yet, Andrés Muñoz, Matt Brash and Gabe Speier all got a much-needed breather thanks to an offensive outburst that led Seattle to a comfortable 10-3 win and a commanding 2-0 series lead. Muñoz did, however, get hot in the ninth inning.
It’s not just that the Mariners are two wins away from their first World Series appearance in franchise history, or that they’re returning to a venue where they have MLB’s best home record since the Trade Deadline. It’s that they are in a superior position to advance, thanks to a massive resetting of their entire pitching staff — starters and relievers.
“Any time you can get your guys maybe another day or so of rest, and you can avoid those high-leverage, high-innings [spots], it’s good,” Cal Raleigh said. “You want to give those guys a break, because they’ve been really carrying a lot on their backs these last few days. So, really, really proud of those guys and glad that they could get a day.”
George Kirby will take the mound in Game 3 on regular rest, then Luis Castillo is slated for Game 4 on an extra day’s rest, having pitched in relief in that 15-inning marathon last Friday. Both are much better at home (2.80 combined ERA) than on the road (4.90 combined ERA). Bryan Woo, who was their best starter in the regular season, is tentatively slated for Game 5, though the Mariners have not yet made that official. He’d also be on an abbreviated pitch count.
But the bullpen’s back end will also be coming in fresh, compounded by Tuesday’s off-day.
Even after outlasting the Tigers in an AL Division Series for the ages, the Mariners were running on fumes going into Toronto — with a five-hour flight that was delayed and didn’t land until 10 p.m. last Saturday, with a less-than-24-hour turnaround before the ALCS began on Sunday.
Which made the six brilliant innings from Bryce Miller on short rest in Game 1 and Eduard Bazardo’s scoreless fourth and fifth innings immediately after Gilbert in Game 2 that much more valuable.
“Bryce really did that, and set the table with what he did [in Game 1],” Gilbert said. “And then, yeah, getting [Muñoz] a break is a big deal. It’s the offense that kind of did that, too. So a bunch of guys stepping up to kind of re-set.”
Bazardo has emerged as a darkhorse in these playoffs, having pitched in all five ALDS games then kept Monday’s game within reach to allow Jorge Polanco and company to take over. When he took over, the game was tied at 3-3 and momentum was firmly in Toronto’s favor. But he limited the Blue Jays to just one baserunner before Polanco’s three-run, tiebreaking homer in the fifth.
Bazardo also threw some of the most critical — and highest-stress — pitches in the marathon win over the Tigers, too, again setting the stage for Polanco.
“Unbelievable,” Gilbert said. “Those guys have been nails all year. Bazardo, the entire year, he’s probably the most underrated reliever in the league, I think. Just doing it every time out there. Vargy [Carlos Vargas], [Hancock] Emerson, getting in the game. Just everybody putting up six zeros there to end it. Like, that’s huge.”
Overall, Mariners relievers this October have a 3.25 ERA with a 23.2% K rate, both third-best among the eight teams that reached the LDS. They’ve also held hitters to a .561 OPS, second-best, with a 1.00 WHIP, tops in these playoffs.
Any title-hopeful team is going to need all its arms to pitch in important capacity if it hopes to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy. After Bazardo on Monday, Vargas and Hancock reached the finish line with two hitless innings apiece.
Obviously, 10 runs of support will allow any pitching staff to breathe easy, and that kind of production can’t be regularly expected in October. But getting it in Game 2 — more than perhaps at any point in this series — helped Wilson lean on his lower-leverage guys and save the back end as the series shifts to Seattle.