PITTSBURGH – They are the two cornerstones of the Mariners, the center of the lineup and the heart and soul of everything this franchise strives for.
And the two runs that Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh scored in the first inning on Sunday afternoon were more important and timely than any other runs the Mariners have scored all season.
Despite ankle soreness, Rodriguez managed an infield single and Raleigh followed up with a line-drive home run a few pitches later, ending the Mariners’ ongoing slump and setting the tone for a 10-3 victory over the Pirates at PNC Park.
“These are our guys — our young, homegrown guys,” manager Scott Servais said. “They’re good players. They play the game the right way and they need to keep it going. They definitely got us going the right way today, and that’s what we needed. We definitely needed that.”
George Kirby rebounded from the worst start of his career to throw six strong innings and the Mariners (64-61) ended a five-game losing streak before a daunting trip to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday.
Everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit and the Mariners had 13 hits total, with home runs from Raleigh, Josh Rojas and Dominic Canzone.
Their 10 runs on Sunday were more than they had scored in their last five games combined (9).
“It’s good to go out there and get a quick lead, especially with George on the mound,” Raleigh said. “We just have to keep going. We can’t be satisfied with just one win.”
Raleigh, who showed up at the stadium with a new mustache, took advantage of a sweep by Pirates starter Jake Woodford to hit his 27th home run of the season, leading all MLB catchers in home runs for the third consecutive year.
During MLB Players’ Weekend, Raleigh hit a home run with his new Sonics “Bring ’em Back” bat, which he said was inspired by the team’s two clubhouse managers, Chris DeWitt and Joe Van Vleck.
Raleigh’s momentum also helped the team launch significantly more attacks on Sunday.
The Mariners scored two more runs in the second when Victor Robles, after failing to make a sacrifice bunt attempt, hit a double down the left field line to score Rojas and Leo Rivas.
The Mariners decided the victory with a three-run fourth inning.
Rojas hit a 92-mile-hour sinker from Woodford into center field, a 408-footer for his seventh home run of the season.
A throwing error by Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo brought in another run, and Luke Raley followed with a sacrifice fly to bring Victor home and extend the Mariners’ lead to 7-0.
Canzone hit a 416-foot home run in the fifth inning against former Mariner relief pitcher Ryder Ryan.
“Really good effort from our guys. We’ve been through a tough time here on this trip,” Servais said. “I can’t say enough about the group coming in today with a really good attitude – kind of a fresh start, let’s just see what we can do and go for it. We’re having a lot of fun doing what we’re doing right now, which is hard. It’s really hard, but it’s a piece of cake. You’ve got to try to take it easy. Our guys came in with a really aggressive bat swing.”
Servais said he liked the energy and positive vibe in the clubhouse early Sunday. He said Raleigh and Rodriguez both spoke up at the hitters’ pregame meeting, as did new first baseman Justin Turner.
“It starts with our leaders, the guys who have been here a long time,” he said. “But Cal, Julio and JT also contributed a lot in the locker room today. Just, ‘Hey, man, here we are. Let’s go. Let’s swing the bat and see what happens.’ And our guys were super aggressive today. We had good pitches to hit and we sank them.”
Turner, who was part of the Dodgers’ World Series-winning team in 2020, will return to Dodger Stadium on Monday for the first time since leaving Los Angeles after the 2022 season. He has seen just about everything in his 16-year MLB career and described a feeling of “more life, more energy” in the team coming to the stadium on Sunday.
“Offense obviously creates energy,” Turner said. “Cal had the big momentum in the first inning to get us going … and after that, it seemed like we played more loosely.”
Dylan Moore wasn’t in the starting lineup, but he was the first outfielder in the stadium on Sunday morning, working on his swing after not getting a hit the night before. (Later in the game, he replaced Jorge Polanco, promptly stole a base and made a terrific dive at second base.)
Even during the brutal start of this journey, Servais emphasized that he liked the consistency of the work and the commitment of his team.
“That’s what you need,” he said. “That’s how these guys are. That’s why I love them so much. I really believe they care about me. They keep working. They don’t always get the results they want, but they deal with the tough times and you have to keep pushing forward.”
It was the Mariners’ first win in a week – since their 12-1 victory over the New York Mets the previous Sunday in front of a national audience on ESPN, which had completed their thrilling sweep.
At that time, the Mariners were tied with the Houston Astros at the top of the AL West.
A week later, they trailed the Astros by four games heading into the series finale in Pittsburgh, and have four games left as they head to LA to complete this nine-day trip.
Kirby, who gave up 11 runs (six earned) in a 15-1 loss at Detroit to start the road trip, threw five scoreless innings on Sunday before allowing a two-run homer to Joey Bart in the sixth inning. He finished the game with six complete innings, allowing four hits, two walks and five strikeouts.
“Today I just tried to pitch angry and pissed off,” Kirby said. “I feel like I learned a lot by pitching pissed off. … I’m pretty angry most of the time, which is something I really need to work on. But you know, I’ve lost four or five times in a row to whoever it was, I thought that was a little bit necessary today, just to come in and set the tone.”
