The pop of the 96 mph fastball that rocketed past Max Kepler’s bat and slammed into Cal Raleigh’s catcher’s mitt echoed Tuesday night throughout a sparsely crowded T-Mobile Park. Before the crowd of 13,019 could applaud his accomplishment, another pop of similar decibel level could be heard.
That was Logan Gilbert celebrating the inning-ending punch out by slapping the palm of his glove with the same vicious intent as the pitch he’d just thrown.
It would be his final pitch of the night.
His work as the Mariners’ best starting pitcher in their rotation was finished after six scoreless innings and 89 pitches.
Given more run support than expected from a patchwork lineup that was missing J.P. Crawford due to a late scratch and Jesse Winker due to a manager’s decision, Gilbert delivered another strong outing in a season full of them, leading the Mariners to a 5-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins.
Relievers Erik Swanson, Diego Castillo and Matt Festa each tossed scoreless frames to preserve the Mariners’ third shutout of the season.
Seattle can notch a series win over the American League Central leaders Wednesday afternoon with lefty Marco Gonzales squaring off against veteran right-hander Sonny Gray.
When Gilbert strode to the mound in the top of the first, he did so with the understanding that the Mariners had mustered minimal offense over the past four games and had lost three of their past four.
Like other times this season, he ended the losing.
Over six innings pitched, he allowed just four hits — three singles and a double — with a walk and six strikeouts.
He allowed just two runners to reach second base. The last came in that sixth inning when Carlos Correa singled with two outs to push Luis Arraez to second and bring Kepler to the plate. Gilbert fell behind 3-0 and came back with three straight fastballs: 95 mph on the outside corner for a called strike, 95 mph again on the outside corner for a called strike and then 96 mph over the middle of the plate but at the upper quadrant of the zone.
The outing improved Gilbert to 7-2 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.22, which ranks in the top among qualified starters in Major League Baseball
The Mariners are 9-4 in games started by Gilbert.
Even more impressive is when those wins have come — when the Mariners were struggling.
On April 14, he snapped the Mariners’ four-game losing streak by beating the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. He ended another four-game losing streak for his team May 1, beating the Marlins.
The Mariners provided more than enough for run support.
Eugenio Suarez smoked a two-run homer off Twins starter Joe Ryan in the fourth inning, and Ty France ended Ryan’s outing in the fifth with a two-run homer into the Twins bullpen.
The duo of Dylan Moore and Sam Haggerty, playing in place of Crawford and Winker, added a run in the seventh.
The Mariners are 9-4 in games started by Gilbert.
Six straight quality starts (six-plus innings pitched, three runs or fewer allowed).
This was the fourth time that Gilbert has followed up a Mariners loss with an outing that got his team the win.
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