Seattle Mariners' pitching steps toward regaining dominance

The Seattle Mariners’ historic three-game sweep over the Pirates, which saw the pitching staff record back-to-back-to-back shutouts for the first time in team history, marked the first stretch this year when it was all about the pitching.

Finally.

If the Mariners are to have any chance of taking the division or making a substantial run in the postseason, they will have to be led by the pitching.

The Mariners’ pitchers had a historic series – these are the numbers

How do you erase a seven-game deficit in the AL West? You go on a run. What gives you the best chance to reel off seven, eight, nine wins in a row? Dominant starting pitching and a shutdown bullpen. The kind of pitching that gives a team a chance to win every night.

It was an extremely small sample against an offensively-challenged Pirates team (although Pittsburgh had won six straight coming into the series), but the feeling I was left with as Andrés Muñoz retired the final batter of the series was, “Hey, I know those guys!”

We all do. The Mariners this year were built to lead with and lean on their pitching, and injuries have played a significant role in that not yet happening. If it is to happen, it will start with the starters. Pass the baton to the next, no relief for the opponent.

Sunday afternoon, after out-dueling Pirates All-Star Paul Skenes, George Kirby felt it.

“We just come out hot from the get go, we establish the heater early, we get guys off balance and just staying on the attack is the biggest thing,” Kirby said. “I don’t think anyone let up at all this week and yeah, it was just really cool.”

If this is a turnaround for the entire staff, it began well before the weekend series. After spending most of the season no where near the top 10 in numerous categories, and sometimes alarmingly close to the bottom of some leaderboards, the Mariners’ staff since June 13 has posted the second-best ERA in baseball.

The ‘pen plays its part

The starters have been doing their part of late, having allowed just one earned run through 29 2/3 innings on the last turn of the rotation.

The bullpen has done the same, impressive particularly in a stretch of 17 straight days of games that ended Sunday – a stretch that easily could have torn the ‘pen apart. In a radio pregame interview last week, Matt Brash pointed to a reliever meeting as a turning point for a group whose wobbles contributed to losing records in May and June.

“We weren’t really happy with what we were doing,” Brash said. “For the years I have been with the Mariners, we were known for first-pitch strikes, going right at guys, not being afraid, not walking, no free bases and making hitters beat us by getting hits. We have really good stuff and I feel like we got away from that beginning of the year, and we sat down and said, ‘Hey, we have some of the best stuff in the league, let’s go right at guys.’”

The meeting began with a blunt assessment from pitching coach Pete Woodworth.

“It was kind of their meeting,” Woodworth said. “We explained to them where we are, what they are doing. It was kind of average. They were throwing average first-pitch strikes. They were throwing average strikes. We were getting average results. If that’s what they want to continue doing, that’s what they are going to get.

“So they came together as a group and just recommitted to who they are and who they have been the last couple of years, and ever since that day we’ve had some good results. But they’ve just taken it to a different level.”

Brash agrees the meeting was needed.

“I feel like we just kind of came together as a group,” he said. “I think since then, everyone from top to bottom has been doing their thing. (Eduard) Bazardo, Thorny (Trent Thornton), Gabe (Speier)… The last series was incredible going right at guys with their fastballs and throwing the great breaking balls.

“I feel like we just put our foot down and, like, enough is enough. We are going to attack guys, make them hit their way on, and the results have been there. We are throwing really well.”

Time will tell if the Mariners’ pitching has indeed returned to form. It was certainly good to see it this weekend.

Seattle Mariners’ pitching steps toward regaining dominance

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