Mariners win thriller against Angels, 5-3, behind Marlowe’s first career Grand Slam
By Bel Garcia, edited by Charles Hamaker
Anaheim, CA - The Seattle Mariners traveled to Anaheim to face the Angels, with a streak of four consecutive series wins, looking to extend it to five, while also attempting to climb 5 games over .500 for the first time this season. It wasn’t until the very end of this ballgame that the Mariners regained the lead, after a slow start on offense from both teams. Seattle kicks off a critical four-game series against their divisional rivals, with both teams looking to get themselves back into the postseason after subpar first halves.
Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo during his July 18th start against the Minnesota Twins (Photo by Chris Lu)
On the mound tonight, were Seattle’s Bryan Woo and Los Angeles’ Shohei Ohtani, keeping a scoreless game through the sixth inning. With only a five combined hits through the first four innings, it was a pitching duel from the two right handers. That is, until Shohei Ohtani had to leave the mound in the fourth inning, as he was experiencing cramping in his pitching hand and fingers. Not new to issue, Ohtani had been experiencing cramping during the Angels most recent road trip. He’d had to leave games early a few times before but this was the first time the cramping took place on his pitching hand. To avoid giving up any runs to the Mariners and in an abundance of caution, Ohtani’s time on the mound came to an end.
Seattle Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez got on the board for the first run of the game, in the form of a solo homer to right field that put the Mariners up. Currently on a streak of his own, Suarez has an RBI in his last nine games: tonight’s coming from that solo blast in the sixth inning. It was the only hit in the inning for Seattle, who went down in order after the Suarez swat. The Angels didn’t allow Eugenio to have all the fun in the inning, after coming back to the plate, Ohtani was intentionally walked by Woo. With a runner on base, Angels first baseman CJ Cron singled to right field, scoring Ohtani who had stolen second base. Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead over the Mariners on a, Mike Moustakas double that scored Cron. Bryan Woo kept the Angels at bay for most of the game, but after giving up those two runs, was relieved by Mariners left handed reliever Gabe Speier.
Seattle Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez celebrates in the dugout during the teams July 19th, 2023 game against the Minnesota Twins (Photo by Sage Zipeto)
Despite leaving the mound, Ohtani’s cramping did not get in the way of his 40th home run of the season. Shohei is the first player in the MLB to reach 40 this season, doing so on a solo homer to right center in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Angels led the game, 3-1 going into the final inning, as more heroics were not expected after this demonstration from Shohei Ohtani. He continues to have an exceptional season, both on the mound and as a hitter.
Looming over this 2023 season for quite some time has been the Mariners inability to make big plays with runners in scoring position. Cade Marlowe scoffed at that notion, at least for tonight’s ballgame. Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh started things off for the Mariners in the top of the ninth inning, drawing a walk. He was followed by a Ty France walk that advanced Raleigh to second, and saw Jose Caballero sub in for France as a pinch runner. Dominic Canzone continued the movement on the bases with a single, loading the bases up for next in line Teoscar Hernandez, who struck out. Rookie outfielder Cade Marlowe was up next – after two strikes on a Four-seam fastball by Los Angeles closer Carlos Estevez (Who hadn’t blown a save coming into this game), he adjusted his swing enough for the go-ahead grand slam bomb. The ball traveled the furthest it had all game, and Marlowe put the Mariners in a position to win, with the scoreboard at 5-3.
Seattle Mariners reliever Andres Munoz during the teams July 19th, 2023 game against the Minnesota Twins (Photo by Sage Zipeto)
Mariners reliever Andres Muñoz has seemingly assumed the closing pitcher position since Paul Sewald’s departure from the team. With three strikeouts in the bottom of the ninth, he ended the game unscathed. With talks of the trade deadline and what moves the Mariners might make, the team has shown that their mentality is still on winning games. They will have three more games in Los Angeles to close out this series before returning home, with hopes of another series win.