Gilbert blanks Padres, Mariners close in on Wild Card spot
SEATTLE (AP) — Logan Gilbert struck out a career-high 12 in seven innings of one-hit ball and the Seattle Mariners won their sixth straight, 2-0 over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
Gilbert retired 21 of the 22 batters he faced, yielding only an infield single to Xander Bogaerts in the second inning. Star center fielder Julio Rodriguez aided Gilbert (10-5) by robbing Fernando Tatis Jr. of a potential homer with a leaping catch at the wall.
Seattle (61-52) has won 11 of 13 and pulled within two games of Toronto for the third and final AL wild-card spot. San Diego lost its third straight.
After he caught Tatis' deep drive leading off the fourth, Rodriguez walked casually back from the wall and kept the ball hidden in his glove as Tatis rounded the bases. Many fans thought it was a homer until Rodriguez eventually opened his glove to reveal the ball.
Tatis smiled in disbelief, while Rodriguez turned to his “No Fly Zone” cheering section in center field and made a celebratory “X” with his arms.
Rodriguez also made a diving catch of Garrett Cooper’s shallow line drive in the third and ran down Jake Cronenworth’s liner to the left-center field gap in the fifth.
Gilbert struck out six of the final seven batters he faced and dominated the Padres for the second time in as many outings this season. The 26-year-old right-hander limited San Diego to one run and three hits in seven innings on June 6.
Matt Brash struck out Trent Grisham with runners at the corners in the eighth and Andrés Muñoz worked the ninth to pick up his sixth save, concluding a three-hitter for Seattle.
Scott Barlow (2-5) allowed a one-out walk in the fifth and was relieved by Ray Kerr. With two outs, Cal Raleigh worked a 3-1 count and drew a bases-loaded walk on Kerr's pitch-clock violation to put the Mariners ahead 1-0.
Dylan Moore added an RBI triple with two outs in the sixth. His liner to center field deflected off the glove of the leaping Grisham and brought home Tom Murphy.
Nick Martinez opened with three scoreless innings for the Padres, taking injured starter Joe Musgrove’s spot in the rotation for the second straight time.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Seattle placed rookie RHP Bryan Woo (right forearm inflammation) on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Saturday. The 23-year-old felt more sore than usual after his last start on Thursday. “No real concerns, but abundance of caution,” general manager Justin Hollander said.
ROSTER MOVES
Padres: OF José Azocar was recalled after spending the past two months with Triple-A El Paso. INF Matthew Batten was optioned to El Paso.
Mariners: RHP Matt Festa was designated for assignment, RHP Ryder Ryan was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma and RHP Ryan Jensen was claimed off waivers from the Chicago Cubs.
UP NEXT
Padres: RHP Yu Darvish (8-7, 4.41 ERA) starts Wednesday night in the finale of the two-game series. He threw eight shutout innings of two-hit ball the last time he faced Seattle, on Sept. 13, 2022.
Mariners: RHP Emerson Hancock, the club’s top pitching prospect, is expected to be promoted from Double-A Arkansas to make his major league debut in place of the injured Woo. Hancock was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2020 amateur draft.
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