CINCINNATI — That was more of the type of baseball that got the Mariners here, back in the thick of the postseason hunt.
Mike Ford, JP Crawford and Cal Raleigh all hit home runs, the bullpen was almost flawless in the final period and the Mariners snapped a three-game losing streak with an 8-4 win over the Reds on Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park to avoid a series win.
“You’re going to have those valleys a little bit,” manager Scott Servais said. “It’s nice to see our boys, they came to the stadium very focused today. We had to come out and get this win. And we did it.”
The Mariners (78-61) continue their 10-day, 10-game road trip Thursday at Tampa Bay to open a crucial four-game series between two of the American League’s top teams.
Luis Castillo is scheduled to start the series opener against the Rays (83-55), who will counter with right-hander Zack Littell.
The Mariners added some momentum to the weekend with a mini home run derby early Wednesday.
Ford hit a 400-foot shot to right field, a two-run pitch from Reds rookie right-hander Lyon Richardson. He stood and admired the flight of the ball in the second inning that gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead.
Ty France drew a 10-pitch walk off Ford to get on base.
The Mariners added five more runs in the fourth.
France doubled down the left field line and scored first off Eugenio Suarez. (Suarez wore brand new boots on Wednesday night and has never looked faster.)
After a walk from Josh Rojas, Crawford spun a 97 mph fastball in the inside half and sent it wide out for a 382-foot home run. It was his 15th win of the season and continued his unexpected surge of strength. He was one of the AL’s most productive hitters in the second half of the season.
“It’s a credit to him that he focused on getting better,” Servais said. “JP is a really good, established major league player with contractual security and knows he will be an integral part of our club in the future. But that is not enough.
“I think we all know how we felt when the playoffs ended last year. We had to get better. And no one has taken that to heart more than JP Crawford, and we see it working every day.”
Two batters later, Raleigh hit a line-drive rocket that just cleared the wall in right field, estimated at 107.5 mph right off the bat. It would have been a home run in just seven of 30 big league parks, but the Mariners were on the other end in Tuesday’s disappointing loss when the bullpen blew a four-run lead.
The bullpen was back in form on Wednesday.
The Mariners needed a strong start Wednesday, and Logan Gilbert was sharp early, helping the Mariners build a 7-1 lead in five innings.
“Hats off to Logan Gilbert. He went out and did exactly what we needed him to do tonight,” Servais said. “He kind of calmed the game down and got into his game.”
He reached 98 mph with his fastball and his four-pitch mix worked well, helping him finish the game with nine strikeouts.
His developing splitter was particularly sharp in his two starts on this road trip. He had 17 swings and misses all day Wednesday and five (out of nine swings) with the splitter alone.
“It helped a lot,” he said of the splitter, a new pitch for him this year. “Just like anything else, it comes out better when I think about the fastball and try not to manipulate it too much. So that’s the main thing: basically just try to throw like a fastball down the middle and let it fall. When I get it forward, it works pretty well.”
Gilbert ran into trouble in the sixth inning and Matt Brash was called in to relieve him with two runners on and only one out.
After allowing a single by Noelvi Marte, Brash got a strikeout and a groundout in the sixth to strand the bases loaded.
Gabe Speier pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning and Justin Topa pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
In the ninth, with the score 0-2, Andres Muñoz allowed a one-out home run to Will Benson, but he struck out Spencer Steer to end the game.
“That’s how we’re used to pitching,” Servais said. “I thought our bullpen guys were very aggressive.”
France made it 8-3 with an RBI single in the seventh inning. He finished the game with two hits, two walks, two RBI and two runs scored, and Raleigh added three hits and a walk.
“I worked a lot and just tried to find my swing,” France said. “Today I felt like I was on time. I swung at the right pitches and dropped the pitches of good pitchers. I’m just trying to get some rhythm and momentum going over the next few weeks.”
Gilbert struck out nine over 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks.
For the record, the Mariners didn’t hit a batter on Wednesday after striking out seven Reds batters in the first two games of the series. Seattle pitchers entered the series with the fewest number of hit batters in the MLB this season.
The Reds (73-69) managed to win the series and stay in the race for an NL wild card spot despite missing four pitchers who were placed on the COVID list over the weekend. Several key players were also missing – notably Joey Votto and Jonathan India.
“You never feel comfortable here. At least that’s how I felt,” Servais said. “We are ready to leave Cincinnati.”