Mariners notes: Logan Gilbert fantastic again, but first-place Seattle falters in Miami

As Seattle starters routinely cruise through one scoreless frame after another, manager Scott Servais is the first to offer a fist-bump – waiting on the dugout steps with an unspoken form of encouragement to “keep going.”

The ritual is commonplace these days. Mariners starting pitchers own the most innings pitched (470.2) among MLB clubs by a considerable margin. And with Logan Gilbert’s latest mesmerizing performance, he became the recipient of Servais’ flurry of fist-bumps.

The 27-year-old righty and MLB leader in innings pitched (106.1) silenced the Miami Marlins on Saturday, 9-0, with eight sparkling frames in front of family and within his home state of Florida. Seattle’s workhorse flashed an array of animated pitches and induced ground-ball double plays in each of the first and second innings, expanding the strike zone against overly-aggressive Miami bats.

Virtually unscathed, he trotted off LoanDepot Park’s mound with an eight-inning shutout, eyeing a complete game as the capper.

But Servais offered Gilbert no fist pump. Instead, the dreaded handshake, the notion of a job well done. At 92 pitches, Gilbert’s fabulous start was over.

“He wouldn’t shake my hand,” Servais said. “And I love it about Logan.”

Had Saturday’s nine-run cushion been smaller, Servais would have considered leaving Gilbert in. The risk-reward simply wasn’t there. More pivotal games await.

“I understand,” Gilbert told reporters. “They have our best interests in mind, trying to protect us. But in the moment, you just want to keep going.

“I just tried to keep my head down and walk past (Servais),” added Gilbert, tongue-in-cheek. “Didn’t get away.”

Gilbert fanned six Marlins, issuing just one walk and four hits. Seattle reliever Eduard Bazardo tossed a clean ninth to preserve Seattle’s 9-0 win in the middle game, a much-needed victory after dropping Friday’s opener in extras, 3-2.

“He used all of his pitches,” Servais said. “You saw them all. You saw the cutter, at times. The fastball, early in the game. The slider’s always his go-to, the curveball is really mixed in as a nice off-speed pitch for him, and then the split. All of them located, ahead in the count, aggressive. Love to see it.”

In June, Gilbert is 3-1 (29.2 IP) with a 1.21 ERA. He’s struck out 28 batters and walked one. Opposing bats are slashing just .164/.171/.279 with a .450 OPS against the six-foot-six Stetson grad in that span.

And he is among the league’s lowest in run support, rarely provided with Saturday’s offensive outburst.

Is that something Gilbert even considers?

“I stay in the tunnel, usually, throughout innings. Half of the time, I have to check the score when I run out there for the next inning,” he said.

“But it all evens out. You saw tonight how many runs we got tonight when I was out there. It’s not something that affects me. If we have 10 runs, I’m still trying to come out of there with zero runs, regardless.

“I’m not wishing for one-run games, but it’s fun either way.”

Gilbert’s eight-inning shutout was all the more valuable given Seattle floundered in Sunday’s rubber match and last-place Miami rocked Mariners starter Bryce Miller for six runs and two homers in the finale’s first three frames. The Marlins blistered four baseballs 100 mph or harder off Miller, who struggled to harness off-speed pitches, and escaped with a 6-4 win.

“Overall, a frustrating day,” Miller said. “The slider could’ve been better. I was yanking a couple, I was falling behind with it.

“I don’t know. I think I have all of the pieces. I just made a couple of bad pitches, got in some bad counts, and they were able to capitalize.”

Perhaps more frustrating was Seattle’s last-gasp rally that fell painfully short with two outs and the bases loaded. Off Julio Rodriguez’s bat, it appeared to be the game-tying single to right center – until Miami second baseman Otto Lopez robbed the 91-mph liner out of the sky.

A series-saving grab.

All Rodriguez could do was smile.

“I thought we had tied the game,” Servais said. “You’re going to need a few things to go your way late. I thought Julio had a good at-bat. ... Just not quite hard enough or far enough.”

The Mariners are 2-4 amid a nine-game road trip, and the 10-game cushion enjoyed over the American League West earlier this week has dwindled to six.

Still, the Mariners own a 71.7 percent chance to win the division, per FanGraphs, and an 82.2 percent chance to make the playoffs.

“The consistency on the road just hasn’t been there,” Servais said of his club, which is 27-12 at T-Mobile Park and 18-23 as visitors. “A lot of games to go. … You’re going to (have to) wipe this one off, get to Tampa. Good team, another tough place to win [Tropicana Field]. Got to come back and win the series over there.”

SANTOS THROWS LIVE SESSION IN MIAMI

Much-needed relief help for Seattle’s bullpen is on the way.

Gregory Santos threw live batting practice at LoanDepot Park in Miami ahead of Saturday’s middle game, a crucial step in the hard-throwing right-hander’s return to MLB action.

Santos, 24, was acquired from the Chicago White Sox on Feb. 3, an ideal seventh-inning setup man ahead of Matt Brash and Andres Munoz. But Brash will miss the entire 2024 season after undergoing successful Tommy John surgery last month, and Santos has yet to appear for the Mariners since his acquisition due to a lingering right lat strain.

The latter faced Seattle’s Ryan Bliss and Tyler Locklear in Saturday’s session and flashed nasty splitters and sliders that have the Mariners eager for his return. Santos is scheduled to throw another bullpen session in Tampa before a minor-league assignment.

“(Gregory’s) excited to get out there,” Servais said. “I know [Director of Pitching Strategy] Trent Blank is excited to see him out there. Trent’s kind of been his personal coach here over the last month or so to get him up and going, and it’s worked.

“He’s improving, he’s gotten better.”

SHORT HOPS

– Has the Ryan Bliss breakout arrived? He recorded consecutive three-hit games Friday and Saturday in Miami, including two doubles and a triple. Entering Sunday’s finale, Bliss’ .876 OPS in June ranked fourth-best among qualifying second basemen in MLB.

“Ryan Bliss is smokin’ hot here in the last couple of days,” Servais said. “Which is great to see when young players start to settle in and take off.”

– The Mariners lead MLB with 47 quality starts, going 36-11 in those contests. Seattle boasts the only rotation with four starters having tossed eight or more quality starts this season: Logan Gilbert (13 quality starts), Luis Castillo (10), George Kirby (9), and Bryce Miller (8).

– MLB All-Star voting is in full swing, with the first of two voting phases ending Thursday. Phase Two, from June 30 to July 3, finalizes All-Star starters. Though the Mariners did not have a position player rank atop respective leaderboards after MLB’s first vote tally, each club is guaranteed one representative at the 2024 Midsummer Classic in Arlington. Fan ballots can be found here.

ON DECK

The Mariners complete a three-city, nine-game road trip in Tampa Bay (June 24-26) before returning home to T-Mobile Park for a nine-game homestand (June 28-July 7).

Bryan Woo takes the mound at Tropicana Field in Monday’s series opener with the Rays for a 3:50 p.m. first pitch.