Kyle Seager had a three-run double on Wednesday in the 8-4 victory of the Mariners. (AP)
The Mariners were able to avoid a series sweep against the Chicago White Sox after a sixth inning with seven runs on Wednesday resulted in an 8-4 victory in Seattle.
Mariners use 7-run inning to avoid sweep, top White Sox 8-4
However, some of the things that were positives and strengths of the Mariners in the opening series against the Giants went against them against Chicago this series.
So, with the first homestand in the books and the Mariners at 3-3, let’s take a look at some of the key takeaways from this most recent three-game series.
Dominated in the zone
After the Mariners completed their series win over San Francisco, manager Scott Servais made it very clear what he was most happy about with his team during that series. That takeaway was that Seattle dominated the attack zone on the mound and on the plate.
That was not the case at all against a very good White Sox team.
During the set of three games, Mariners-batters struckout 37 and walked 11 times. At the mound, Seattle-pitchers batted 26 Chicago batters and walked 20.
That’s on the heels of Seattle drawing 16 walks and knocking out 29 times against the Giants, while recording 32 punchouts against just 10 hill walks.
“We are proud to control the attack zone on the hill and we did not do that today,” Servais said after Wednesday’s victory.
In the last episode, the Mariners walked 11 batters. Righthanded pitcher Justin Dunn gave up eight walks in 4 2/3 innings while giving up three runs. Four of those walks came in the fifth inning, ending a stretch in which Dunn retired eight of the nine White Sox.
“You can’t run four men in an inning,” he said. “That will probably be the end of your day.”
However, it didn’t take the Mariners out of the game on Wednesday, as they scored eight runs to win the series final and avoid the sweep. But with Seattle’s batters booking nearly half of their outs on strikeout and Mariners pitchers struggling to pitch strikes, it’s not surprising that the series ticked in Chicago’s favor overall.
Young starters have some work to do
Servais stayed with Dunn and said that “the pitcher’s stuff was good,” but that his command was good, ending his day after he walked four in the fifth inning. Dunn also struggled with command last season, walking 31 batters compared to 38 strikeouts in 10 starts.
Servais pointed to the mental side of the game in terms of where Dunn needs to improve after Wednesday’s start.
“Part of that is focus,” said Servais. “You have to get into the attack zone, you have to be able to adapt a little faster in this competition, otherwise you will not get very good results. In that regard, we were lucky today. “
Dunn told reporters after the game that he was struggling when the White Sox got runners on base and had to throw him out of the rack. Part of that was due to trying to keep runners close to first base and prevent them from stealing.
“I’ve probably put too much emphasis on mastering the running game and not executing throws,” said Dunn.
Like his manager, Dunn was happy with his stuff, but he knows he has to throw more strikes to be effective. Dunn’s fastball had a better pace than last year and his slider had moments against the White Sox at times.
“When it’s on the board I get swings and misses, I get action,” said Dunn. “Give them my cap, I had no control over the ball and they did very well and made me throw throws.”
Dunn wasn’t the only young Mariners-starter to wrestle against the White Sox, as left-wing Justus Sheffield had his problems on Monday and went five innings while giving up eight hits, five runs, two walks and striking out five batters.
The White Sox hit Sheffield really hard, something he avoided in his 10 starts last season. His command wasn’t quite up to Dunn’s level, but he got behind hitters and that caused him to lean on his fastball instead of his slider. In addition, he struggled with his substitution, which is an important pitch against righthanded batters for him.
The battle of Dunn and Sheffield came after Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Flexen dominated the attack zone against the Giants last week. Starting pitching was a weakness for Seattle against Chicago, with Dunn and Sheffield having their problems and James Paxton leaving Tuesday’s game with an injury after only 24 pitches.
Dunn and Sheffield will try to rebound when they get the ball next week. From now on, both are scheduled to pitch in Baltimore against the Orioles.
Lineup struggles with consistency
Like Seattle’s win on the opening day, the Mariners got a big inning late in the series final against the White Sox, which was huge in the team’s 8-4 win.
The seven-run sixth inning was a welcome sight for Seattle, who went into the inning 4-1, not only because the runs are good, but also because the six-game line-up actually only had three consistent hitters.
Obviously, you’ll take six games with a pinch of salt, but if you look at the Mariners box scores and stats, the only three guys to do any kind of damage are Mitch Haniger, Ty France and Kyle Seager, who came first, second. and third in the Seattle line-up.
Haniger hits .280 with a homerun and four RBI’s while France hits .318 with a homerun and three RBIs. France also had what Servais called Wednesday’s game with his 11-pitch walk that he tied with two outs in the sixth inning, keeping the inning alive.
Appreciation for walk with 11 pitch. pic.twitter.com/vthu4y4lCd
– Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 8, 2021
That walk was especially valuable as not only got the bases loaded, but the next batter, Seager, hit a three-run double to put Seattle ahead. Seager hits .250 with three RBI’s.
After those three, the averages of many batters in Seattle are in the low .200s or even below.
The good news for Mariners fans? Servais hopes to have 2020 American League Rookie of the Year Kyle Lewis back for the next homestand, which kicks off next Friday, April 16 against the Houston Astros. The presence of Lewis in the center of the lineup would greatly help lengthen the Mariners’ lineup and add an extra threat to the opposing pitchers.
Rookie Taylor Trammell’s struggles stand out. It was a welcome sight when he hit a fastball on the first pitch in rightfield on Wednesday in the Mariners’ seven-run inning, but in five games (he had retired the first game of the White Sox-series) Trammell has only two singles, two RBI’s, four walks and 11 strikeouts in 21 at bats.
Dylan Moore and JP Crawford, who batted in the back half of the lineup, also had relatively slow starts at the saucer. Seattle will need more top-to-bottom consistency in the future.
Another note: Seattle has only two homeruns so far, and both come to win against the Giants on Saturday.
What’s on tap?
The Mariners will hit the road for the first time in 2021, starting with a trip to Minnesota to take on the Twins. The opener is set for 1:10 PM on Thursdays, with coverage starting at noon on 710 ESPN Seattle.
Marco Gonzales gets the start for his second appearance of the year for the Mariners, while the Twins will roll out All-Star righthanded Jose Berrios.
Follow Brandon Gustafson on Twitter.
M’s Notebook: What’s next in OF, rotation with Fraley and Paxton hurts