Through three starts this season, Seattle right-hander Logan Gilbert has thrown his split-fingered fastball 70 times.
And has yet to allow a hit.
Gilbert (0-1, 2.55 ERA) will put that streak on the line Sunday afternoon when the host Mariners go for a three-game sweep against one of their American League West rivals, the Texas Rangers.
“There’s so much variability in the pitch itself,” Gilbert said. “I don’t know what it’s doing. The hitter doesn’t know what it’s doing. (Catcher) Cal (Raleigh) doesn’t know what it’s doing. So kind of just throw it and Cal plays goalie back there and tries to block it.”
Perhaps that’s why Raleigh not only won a Gold Glove Award last season but also the Platinum Glove as the best defender in the AL.
“It is tough because it’s not like it does the same thing every time. You just have to be ready for whatever,” Raleigh said of Gilbert’s pitch. “It’s a good pitch because it’s hard to recognize and sit on.”
The Rangers had a similar problem Saturday night in a 9-2 loss.
They seemingly had Mariners starter Bryan Woo on the ropes in the first inning with a run in and the bases loaded with no outs. But Woo got Joc Pederson to fly out to shallow right field, struck out Josh Jung and Jake Burger to get out of the jam and didn’t allow another run over his seven innings.
Texas has lost 15 of their past 19 games against Seattle.
“We’ve had a hard time up here and they do have good pitching,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’ve just got to cash in when we have those chances in the first inning.”
The Rangers are set to send veteran right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (1-1, 2.19) to the mound Sunday. Eovaldi is 2-3 with a 5.46 ERA in 11 career starts against Seattle; Gilbert is 4-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 13 starts versus Texas.
Raleigh homered for the second straight night while using a “torpedo” bat. He hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off the facade of the second deck in the eighth inning of a 5-3 victory Friday and a 420-foot solo shot to straightaway center in the fifth Saturday.
Julio Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with a run-scoring triple Saturday and Luke Raley was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs as the Mariners won their third consecutive game.
“To see the ball (down) the line, into the gaps, get to the wall, guys running the bases hard, that’s really what we’re looking for,” said Mariners manager Dan Wilson, whose team tied its season high for runs. “And they were able to really do that (Saturday) in a big way. You start stacking hits like that, you’re going to score some runs.”
The Mariners are 4-1 on their six-game homestand against division rivals Houston and Texas after being swept last weekend in an interleague series at San Francisco.
“Even though it’s early (in the season), obviously we understand that all the games matter,” Woo said. “You lose some tough games in San Francisco, you come back here and win a couple of tough games.
“So it’s just kind of things you try to build on and stay consistent, kind of build that foundation for the rest of the year. So super important, obviously good to win these series at home and go for the sweep (Sunday).”
–Field Level Media
