CHICAGO — Less than 24 hours after what has been and could be their worst loss of the season, the Seattle Mariners returned to Wrigley Field unfazed for a perfect sun-drenched afternoon of baseball.
If they were wounded by their stunning collapse the night before, they didn’t show it in their pregame warmups and routines.
If they were frustrated by losing their last three games in dubious fashion, sabotaging what was a promising road trip, it wasn’t mentioned.
If there was any panic starting to resonate due to their suboptimal start to this season, they seemed to be ignoring it.
Instead, they went out and provided a one-game reminder of why preseason expectations, not hopes, for this team were higher than any team in the last two decades and why there had been so much grumbling and Twitterpating among the fan base over the past week.
The Mariners got a brilliant outing from starter Logan Gilbert and plenty of run support, highlighted back-to-back solo homers from Teoscar Hernandez and Jarred Kelenic to close out the road trip with an impressive 5-2 victory over the Cubs.
They finished the road trip with a 3-3 record and were essentially two plays away from going 5-1. Wednesday’s victory didn’t fix the issues facing this team as it heads back to Seattle for a nine-game homestand, starting on Friday. But it was a needed reprieve from the less-than-stellar play of the past three days.
Coming off a forgettable start in his last outing, Gilbert pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. A performance more impressive considering the 80-degree temps and a steady wind blowing out to the well-served and beer-soaked bleachers.
While the two homers were essentially insurance runs, the power display and the two hitters make them notable. Hernandez has gotten off to an up and down start with his team this season. But he also had an RBI single earlier in the game and his solo homer to left was one of the hardest hit balls of the game.
Well, that was until Kelenic stepped to the plate and unleashed a majestic 482-foot blast to the upper deck in center field. It was the longest ball hit in the regular season in the hallowed stadium in the Statcast era dating back to 2015. It was also his third straight game with a homer.
