Seattle Mariners: Reviewing the Kendall Graveman trade 2 weeks later
First five games against the Astros and the Rangers
In the first game after Graveman went to Houston, the M’s lost 8-6. Starter Chris Flexen was knocked around by the ‘Stros. Game 2 was a bullpen disaster. All four relievers who pitched after starter Yusei Kikuchi gave up at least one run, and the Mariners lost 11-4.
The opening game of a series with the Rangers was next. It was a success, but not because of the bullpen. Logan Gilbert pitched well, and the M’s won 9-5. The ship seemed to be righted, but then disaster struck in Dallas.
Anderson’s first game with the Mariners was a decent start, pitching into the 6th inning and only giving up 3 runs. Joe Smith (acquired in the Graveman trade), Erik Swanson, Casey Stadler, and Paul Sewald did their jobs to perfection. Castillo came in, in the bottom of the 10th after the M’s took a 4-3 lead and faced one batter. That batter smashed a walk-off home run.
Game 3 looked similar to Game 2. Gonzales was outstanding, giving up one run over six innings. With the score 3-1 going into the bottom of the 9th and apparently Castillo unavailable (he only pitched to one batter the previous night), Scott Servais went to Erik Swanson to close out the game. Swanson gave up two dingers, and one of them was a walk-off.
Almost a turnaround in Tampa
Seattle started the Rays series by taking the first two; Castillo even earned a save. The series finale’ stung, but the M’s couldn’t get their bats going against the Rays bullpen and lost 4-3. The Mariners headed to NYC to play the Yankees. At that point, they were 3-5 since the Graveman trade, with two of the five losses attributed to the bullpen.