The Seattle Mariners look to continue their winning ways on Tuesday when they begin a nine-game road trip with the opener of a three-game series versus the host Cleveland Guardians.
The Mariners recorded their third series sweep of the season with a 5-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday. The win was the 16th in the last 21 games for Seattle, which resides a season-high 12 games over .500.
“We’re playing good ball right now,” said Logan Gilbert, who allowed just two hits and struck out nine over eight scoreless innings on Sunday.
“When everybody’s doing their job, we’re definitely at our best. And that’s what it looked like today.”
Rookie Tyler Locklear followed up his game-saving catch in the ninth inning of the Mariners’ 7-5 victory on Saturday by belting a solo homer on Sunday.
“There’s 45,000 people up in the stands,” Locklear said, per the Seattle Times. “I’m just trying to make the city of Seattle happy. Watching the bench get fired up, it just got me fired up. It was awesome.”
Seattle’s Bryce Miller (5-5, 3.48 ERA) will take the mound Tuesday opposite Cleveland’s Triston McKenzie (3-3, 4.10) in a battle of right-handers.
Miller rebounded from a dismal start, in which he allowed seven runs in five innings against the Kansas City Royals on June 7, with a sterling performance five days later versus the Chicago White Sox. He received his second straight no-decision, however, despite allowing two hits and striking out eight batters over seven scoreless innings.
Miller, 25, has yet to face the Guardians in his career.
McKenzie, 26, did pitch against the Mariners when the teams met in Cleveland earlier this season. He took the loss after being gashed for five runs (four earned) in 3 1/3 innings in Seattle’s 5-4 victory on April 1. He is 0-3 with an 8.16 ERA in four career encounters.
McKenzie recorded his first win since April 19 with a strong effort versus the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. He permitted two runs on four hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 5-3 victory.
The Guardians enter this series after dropping back-to-back decisions to complete a 4-4 road trip.
Steven Kwan recorded his second four-hit performance of the season in Cleveland’s 7-6 setback to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. Kwan is 23-for-43 with 11 runs and six RBIs during an 11-game hitting streak.
“It’s a tough task to get him out, so we just smile now. He just keeps getting hit after hit after hit,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said of Kwan, who is riding a 22-game on-base streak.
“It goes back to routines,” Kwan said of his success, per Cleveland.com. “No matter what happens the day before, just doing the same thing every day, day-in and day-out, day game, night game, lefty-righty, just trying to do the same routines every day. Sticking to a routine that I trust and just executing.”
Kwan had two hits in Cleveland’s 5-2 win over Seattle on April 2 and three hits and three runs the following day in an 8-0 romp versus the Mariners.
–Field Level Media