Chris Flexen, Seattle Mariners.
Another sweep of Oakland puts the Seattle Mariners only 0.5 games behind Boston for the final American League Wild card spot. The M’s have an off day Thursday, but there are two other games to watch, Boston at Baltimore and New Your and Toronto. Who should M’s fans root for, and why?
Four days, three games. The Mariners have an off-day today, and the timing is perfect. If manager Scott Servais didn’t have Thursday’s off-day in his pocket, the M’s would’ve used different relievers in a very high leverage situation in Wednesday’s 4-2 win over Oakland.
Starter Logan Gilbert threw very well, but Paul Sewald and Drew Steckenrider finished off the Athletics, officially eliminating them from playoff contention. The entire bullpen should have all hands on deck for the regular season-ending three-game set with the Los Angeles Angels this weekend.
Four teams remain for the two American League Wild Card spots. The Seattle Mariners send out two of their most consistent starters, with Marco Gonzalez slated to go Friday and Chris Flexen projected to go Saturday. Tyler Anderson is on the bump Sunday (based on projected rotation status). But it wouldn’t be a surprise to see newly promoted fireballer Matt Brash throw several innings if Anderson struggles early.
89 wins ties the 2018 Mariners’ team for most wins since 2003 when Seattle finished 93-69 in back-to-back seasons. One more “W,” and they reach 90 wins for the sixth time since their inception. They are also two home runs away from 200 for the eighth time in franchise history. It looks like the M’s are three wins away from making the playoffs for the fifth in their turbulent past.
The series is tied at one apiece after the Red Sox Nathan Eovaldi pitched six innings of shutout baseball Wednesday, leading Boston to a 6-0 win. Thursday Sox starter Nick Pivetta (9-7, 4.52 ERA) takes on 24-year-old southpaw Alexander Wells (1-3, 7.61 ERA).
Wells started for the Orioles against the Red Sox on September 19, going 5 innings and giving up 5 earned runs. At the Major League level, Wells’s 2021 is a train wreck. In Triple-A this year, he was 6-3, 3.29 ERA, with a 1.02 WHIP (walks + hits/innings pitched), and featured fantastic control.
Mariners fans are rooting for the Triple-A version of Wells to show up and for Pivetta to be the Pivetta that pitched on 9/19 against the O’s. That day, he couldn’t get out of the fourth inning.
The 28-year-old former Philadelphia Phillies right-hander is having his best season and has a chance to get to 10 wins for the first time in his career. Pivetta is always a little wild but still strikes out a bunch of batters.
Aside from the rough outing two weeks ago, he dominated Baltimore this season. In four starts, against Pivetta is 3-0 with a 4.15 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 21.2 innings pitched. While he’s given up five home runs, Red Sox bats have picked him up, beating up on the Orioles’ beleaguered pitching staff.
This series is also tied. The Mariners did their part by sweeping Oakland again. M’s fans need to figure out who to root for here. If we knew that the Mariners would win out, then it’s Toronto. If Seattle only takes two of three from the Angels, then Mariners Nation roots for the Yankees today. Then Toronto would be tied with the M’s heading into a final matchup against the Orioles.
Veteran right-hander Corey Kluber (6-3, 3.82 ERA) takes the mound for New York. The Blue Jays counter with Cy Young frontrunner Robbie Ray (13-6, 2.68 ERA). Ray’s 2021 resume is very impressive. While he won’t win the triple-crown of pitching, he will take the ERA and strikeouts crowns unless the Yankees blow him out of the water tonight.
Tomorrow is Ray’s birthday; he turns 30 years old. 2021 is the most dominant, most healthy, and most consistent season of his career. He leads the American League in ERA, Strikeouts, WHIP, ERA+ (Ballpark adjusted ERA), Hits Per 9, and is setting career-high numbers along the way. He is susceptible to the long ball (29 home runs given up). His success this year is due to limiting the damage those long fly balls do by keeping runners off base.
The Yankees counter with 35-year-old, two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber. The 11-year MLB veteran fought injuries all season. Thursday is just his 16th start of the season, and NY skipper Aaron Boone likely has him on a very short leash.
This will be his sixth start since returning from the IL (injured list) on August 30. He’s only made it into the sixth inning once and hovered around 85 pitches those starts. Kluber threw a no-hitter on May 19th, which is the main reason why his 2021 starts look as good as they do.
As far as who to root for? It almost doesn’t matter. I’m fine with the Yankees winning to put some cushion between the Mariners and Blue Jays. The Yankees finish the season with the Rays, and that could be a tough series, but it could also be a series of rest for Tampa.
I’m also okay with the Blue Jays winning and putting the Yankees, Red Sox, Mariners, and Blue Jays all within one game of each other. Someone is going to lose; if the Mariners win out, I can’t see it being them.
Joe Swenson is an author, playwright, screenwriter, producer, director, and all-around fun dude.