If theres a Mariners-style win this year, non-chaos division, its most likely this: strong beginning pitching holds the opposing group down enough for the offense to slowly stack a few work on the board, either by scraping some run a starter or attacking on the soft underbelly of another groups bullpen, and then the bullpen comes in and closes the door. The bulk of the heavy offending lifting is done by the very first three batters, who drag the remainder of the lineup along behind them, with the bottom of the lineup occasionally penalizing a mistake pitch for a solo homer. Tonight the Mariners turned the script a little, spreading out the offense across the lineup and weathering a late-inning bullpen hiccup to ensure at least a series split with the Rockies, implying the Mariners havent lost a series because the Yankees pertained to town in early July.
The last time the Mariners dealt with Germán Márquez he had an ideal game entering into the 6th inning, when Taylor Trammell put an end to that with a solo house run. Without any Trammell in the lineup tonight it looked like Márquez may not perfecto the Mariners– Cal Raleigh worked his very first big-league walk in the second inning to put an end to that idea early on– but a no-hitter felt quite on the table, as the Mariners approach of restricting Márquez from getting to a two-strike count and having the ability to release his curveball by swinging at the very first pitch just resulted in fast innings for Márquez till the fourth inning, when Kyle Seager mercifully ended no-hit-watch by dunking a single into center field. Cal Raleigh followed that up with his first-ever MLB hit, but Jarred Kelenic and Dylan Moore started out to end any hazard.
Cal Raleigh had quite a night tonight on both sides of the dish– well get to his offensive effect a little more later on– as he assisted Marco out of a little early problem after Garrett Hampson singled three pitches into the game. Marco set out Connor Joe, in for an injured Chris Owings, but throughout that at-bat Raleigh notched another first: his very first MLB caught stealing.

Congratulations to Cal Raleigh on his very first MLB caught stealing. This outright seed cuts down Garrett Hampson trying to snag a complimentary base. pic.twitter.com/mPdtQSZPA0— Lookout Landing (@LookoutLanding) July 21, 2021

Marco strolled Trevor Story however got Charlie Blackmon to ground out to end the inning for a clean very first inning. Overall his things looked better tonight; his misses were mostly borderline pitches rather of big misses out on like theyve been, and the changeup was a specifically great weapon for him tonight, producing both whiffs and weak contact.
The one speedbump Marco struck tonight was in the fifth inning; he strolled the eight-hole player, Joshua Fuentes, on 5 pitches, and after that made a poor pitch to Connor Joe– 88 middle-middle– which Joe rerouted 440 feet for a no-doubter, non-Coors-aided two-run shot. That would be Marcos last inning of the night, and two runs over five innings isnt going to vastly improve his ERA, but having summarized Marcos previous couple of starts (and been sad while doing so), I can confirm it was a much good-looking getaway than his previous couple of.
Now tracking 2-0, it looked like the video game was headed down an especially foolish path as Mitch Haniger led off the next inning with a strong base hit, however was tossed attempting to stretch what was maybe a generously-sized single into a hustle double however without the necessary hustle. Seager then hit a double that would have probably scored Haniger if he hadnt had a sudden attack of the bad choices, and then France hit a single that DEFINITELY would have scored Mitch if he had not been overtaken by the farticus brainicus. That left the scoring opportunity in the hands of tenderfooted young rookie Cal Raleigh. I think I actually stated aloud, “no pressure, Cal.”
Make that no-pressure Cal:

Jarred Kelenic grounded out for the 2nd out of the inning, which put any possibility of scoring the consent run into the slender yet strong hands of one Dylan Moore. DMo has actually been scuffling this year, specifically on hittable pitches in the zone, which is perhaps why Márquez felt like he might get away with grooving a slider middle-middle to him. And real to form, DMo fouled off that really hittable pitch. However then Márquez returned to that well a 2nd time, and this time, this time Dylan did not miss out on:

Extra-base hits and homers? Of course due to the fact that this is a Mariners win there did have to be some top-of-the-order production, which came thanks to Mr. Ty France, who saw the Mariners trying to squander a two-on no-out chance and stated NON.

Those two extra runs would end up being important due to the fact that once again, boldly stepping exterior of the genre conventions of a 2021 Mariners win, the bullpen actually wobbled a little tonight, making the video game a bit more heart-stopping than it might have been.
J.T. Chargois took control of for Marco in the 5th, and managed to publish a tidy inning however needed an assist from Shed Long, who gunned down Ryan McMahon attempting to go from very first to third on an Elias Díaz single. No, like, actually, as when again the infielder-as-outfielder trope gets switched on its head:

Drew Steckenrider likewise worked a scoreless inning, this time getting aid from Cal Raleigh behind the meal:

If theres a Mariners-style win this year, non-chaos division, its most likely this: strong starting pitching holds the opposing team down enough for the offense to slowly stack a couple of runs on the board, either by scraping some runs off a starter or striking on the soft underbelly of another teams bullpen, and then the bullpen comes in and closes the door. The bulk of the heavy offending lifting is done by the very first 3 batters, who drag the rest of the lineup along behind them, with the bottom of the lineup sometimes punishing a mistake pitch for a solo homer. With no Trammell in the lineup tonight it looked like Márquez might not perfecto the Mariners– Cal Raleigh worked his very first ever big-league walk in the second inning to put an end to that idea early on– but a no-hitter felt very much on the table, as the Mariners method of limiting Márquez from getting to a two-strike count and being able to deploy his curveball by swinging at the very first pitch just resulted in fast innings for Márquez until the 4th inning, when Kyle Seager mercifully ended no-hit-watch by soaking a single into center field. Sliders arent simple to toss in Coors Field and it did seem like Sewald had actually discovered his deal with on the pitch by the end, however there was still an inning to go with the Mariners lead cut to an extremely not Coors-proof 2 runs.
The good news is, Graveman– himself tossing a cool 97-98– rebounded to get Hampson chasing after his slider, followed by an easy groundout off the bat of Connor Joe, and then dismissed Trevor Story, who must be released from the jail of the Rockies ASAP, on three pitches, ending on another nasty slider Story went after out of the zone.

Once again, having actually endured some … questionable getting from Torrens previously this season, its fresh and enjoyable to have a receiver as excellent as Cal back there. He did have a couple missteps occasionally, as is to be expected when a young catcher goes from seeing the very same familiar pitches in the minors to an entire new pitching personnel (including some who werent even with the big-league club during spring training), however general Cal was as remarkable behind the dish as he was at it.
The biggest bullpen wobble originated from the man whos been the most trustworthy arm out there over the previous few weeks. Charlie Blackmon led off the 8th by tripling versus Paul Sewald, and then C.J. Cron, who stands at the plate like a salami hanging in a butcher-shop window, ambushed a first-pitch slider that slid into the upper middle of the zone, rerouting it 465 feet into the Colorado sundown. Sewald rebounded to get McMahon to fly out on a fastball, and Díaz to pop out softly on the slider before starting out pinch-hitter Brendan Rodgers once again on the slider. Sliders arent easy to throw in Coors Field and it did appear like Sewald had actually found his deal with on the pitch by the end, but there was still an inning to choose the Mariners lead trimmed to a distinctly not Coors-proof two runs.
After Carlos Estévez, casually tossing 98-99, dismissed the top of the Mariners order in the top of the 8th (Haniger did work a walk, but Seager and France set out to end any ideas of insurance coverage runs), the upset-tummy feelings ended up being a little bit more pronounced when Kendall Graveman led off by strolling pinch-hitter Raimel Tapia. Why stray from the category that produced so many first-half hits, I couldnt help however wonder. Play the old things! Freebird! Etc. Fortunately, Graveman– himself tossing a cool 97-98– rebounded to get Hampson chasing his slider, followed by a simple groundout off the bat of Connor Joe, and after that dismissed Trevor Story, who should be released from the prison of the Rockies ASAP, on three pitches, ending on another nasty slider Story chased out of the zone. Maybe the occasional category switch isnt so bad. If Ian Fleming had never provided up spy books we wouldnt have Disneylands second-best ride. Heres to having some diverse fun in the second half of the season.