Mariners outlast Astros in extras, close gap in AL West

Pitching depth remains key question ahead of trade deadline

The Mariners are back in the picture.

Cole Young’s walkoff single in the 11th inning Saturday pulled the Mariners within three games of the Astros in the AL West. The Mariners secured a series victory and pushed their head-to-head record against the Astros to 5-4 with four to play. Still, the 7-6 win offered a reminder that the Mariners roster is not yet complete ahead of the trade deadline.

The Mariners quickly took advantage of Lance McCullers Jr. and his post-injury command issues. In the second, they swung at just 10 of 37 pitches and loaded the bases with nobody out. McCullers Jr. beaned Dominic Canzone to plate the game’s first run. The Mariners squandered the remaining base runners but got right back at it in the third with several hits, capped by a two-run double from Canzone to make it 4-0.

That brought in the Astros bullpen, who mostly shut down the Mariners for the next several innings. In the eighth, now down 5-4, Randy Arozarena lead off with a double and advanced to third on a sac fly. He scored on a wild pitch to tie the game and later send it to extras.

It got weirder in the 10th. With the Mariners down 6-5, Arozarena lead off with a walk against Josh Hader in his second inning of work. Jorge Polanco moved Arozarena and the Manfred Man over with a sacrifice bunt. Dylan Moore then quickly fell behind 1-2. Hader threw a sinker in on Moore that appeared to glance off his hand; Moore yelped in pain and fell to the ground. The Astros defense reacted like it was a hit by pitch, but out of nowhere came Cal Raleigh storming across the plate from third. The call on the field was a ball in play off the knob of Moore’s bat, and the play stood after the Astros challenged. The game was tied again at 6-6.

The game remained 6-6 into the bottom of the 11th. Miles Mastrobuoni leadoff with a sacrifice bunt to move Canzone (as the Manfred Man) to third. Cole Young followed with a soft liner into shallow right field to walkoff the Astros 7-6.

Logan Evans got the start for the Mariners and worked around hard contact and three walks to pitch into the fifth inning. He loaded the bases in the first but got out of it unscathed. He gave up a series of hard singles in the third but limited the damage to a run. In the fifth, he exited after giving up leadoff double and a walk, with the Mariners up 4-1.

It was an interesting outing for Evans, two weeks before the trade deadline. The Mariners have struggled to fill the fifth rotation spot after a series of injuries. Most teams in their position would seek a starting pitcher at the deadline, but the Mariners have a better group of starters than most when healthy. The rotation spot at the moment is reserved for Bryce Miller, who threw a live bullpen this afternoon and could return from the injured list in a weeks. The good version of Miller is likely the best option available to the Mariners going forward, but it’s not clear how much his injury will linger when he returns. The Mariners at the moment lack a true sixth starter in his place. Emerson Hancock couldn’t quite figure it out this year in 15 starts, and Evans took his place two weeks ago.

Evans finished Saturday’s outing with an impressive 2.84 FIP and an unimpressive 4 innings pitched. It was enough for an average-ish Game Score of 45 — quality in limited quantity. Two things are true of Evans: 1) the Mariners need a bit more from that spot if they hope to chase down the Astros at the top of the AL West; and 2) he might still have a place on the roster. Evans came into the game with an sOPS+ of 61 when working through the lineup for the first time — or 39% better than league average. He’s been much worse on successive times through the order, but there does seem to be something bizarre about him that stumps hitters for a bit. Perhaps Evans could work in an opener role, in tandem with Miller, to keep either’s longevity concerns at bay. Or perhaps Evans could work in long relief, as a copout for the weekly rotation blunder that’s thrown the bullpen schedule out of wack.

The bullpen was a bit out of wack again Saturday. Carlos Vargas in the sixth hit two consecutive batters and sent the Astros dugout (and Manny Acta) into a tizzy. The umpires gave warnings, though later didn’t enforce them when the Astros plunked Donovan Solano in the eighth. A series of singles off Vargas and then Gabe Speier gave the Astros a 5-4 lead. Casey Legumina, Trent Thornton, Andrés Muñoz and Eduardo Bazardo each threw clean innings. Matt Brash struggled with his command but ultimately limited the damage in the 10th. That’s kind of the theme of the year for the bullpen: each of them can perform on any given night, but one of them is bound to struggle when asked to pick up too many innings.

It’s an issue the Mariners should feel increasingly compelled to solve. They are surging with one of the league’s best lineups and now sit three games back of the Astros in the AL West. Their odds to win the division have jumped from 13.2% to 35.7% over the last five games. They go for the sweep tomorrow.