SEATTLE – For another day, the Mariners can still maintain the hope they can somehow find their way into the playoffs.
Less than 24 hours after a crushing extra-innings loss that allowed the Yankees to celebrate clinching their own spot in the playoffs, the Mariners came out on an impossibly bright Thursday afternoon at T-Mobile Park and took advantage of their opponents’ tired eyes and groggy heads, picking up a much-needed 3-2 victory.
Seattle scored three runs in the first inning off Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt and didn’t add another run despite multiple opportunities.
But starter Logan Gilbert and relievers J.T. Chargois, Troy Taylor, Trent Thornton and Andrés Muñoz made them hold up over the next eight innings.
Yankees left fielder Jasson Dominguez dropped a routine fly ball off the bat of Justin Turner with the bases loaded in the first inning that allowed a run to score without an out being record. The Mariners tacked on two more runs on a sac fly from Jorge Polanco and a run-scoring single from J.P. Crawford.
The Mariners got a gritty effort from Gilbert, who was moved up a day to pitch the series finale.
Gilbert battled through 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with two walks and nine strikeouts.
He didn’t work a single clean inning, having to work around a steady stream of base runners. But he was able to come up with key strikeouts and get a little help from his defense to work out of situations.
When Gilbert struck out Giancarlo Stanton to end the third inning, it gave him 200 strikeouts for the season. He became just the ninth pitcher in team history to reach that milestone. The most recent was Luis Castillo in 2023 and Robbie Ray in 2022.
His two runs allowed came in the third inning. With two outs and the Mariners leading 3-0, Gilbert gave up a two-out single to Aaron Judge. Jazz Chisholm took advantage of a fastball that stayed up and in the middle of the plate, launching a fly ball over the wall in right field for his 23rd homer of the season.
Gilbert started the sixth inning and retired Anthony Rizzo. But with his pitch count at 97, he was lifted for Chargois, who closed out the inning.