DETROIT — This wasn’t like the uneven and frustrating three-game series in Texas and Oakland on the previous road trip, where they managed to win just one game in each.
It certainly was different from the galling 1-1 split in a two-game series with the Nationals, who have the worst record in Major League Baseball, on the recent homestand.
Nope, this time the results actually followed the discrepancy talent and accomplishment this season.
With a businesslike 7-0 dismantling of Detroit on Thursday afternoon, the Mariners completed a decisive three-game sweep at Comerica Park, looking every bit like a playoff-caliber team while making the hapless Tigers look even worse than their 50-81 record, which is second worst in the American League.
It was their first sweep of the Tigers in Detroit since 2012.
The Mariners improved to 73-58 on the season and moved into a tie with the Rays, who had an off day, for the top wild card spot in the American League. The Blue Jays were also off on Thursday and remain two games back of Tampa and Seattle.
The current road trip will get more difficult for the Mariners as they travel to Cleveland for a weekend series with the Guardians, who lead the AL Central. Seattle just took three of four games vs. Cleveland to close out the recent homestand in games that had a postseason feel.
Seattle got six scoreless innings of work from starter Logan Gilbert and scoreless frames from Matt Brash, Matthew Boyd and Penn Murfee while the offense scored six runs off Tigers starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez to roll to an easy victory.
Gilbert delivered a dominant outing, reminiscent of his work before the All-Star break. Using a lively fastball that was consistently in the upper 90s more than half the time, he carved up Tigers hitters, allowing just three base runners on two hits and a walk while striking out nine hitters to improve to 11-5 on the season and lower his ERA to 3.35.
Of his 84 pitches, 57 were strikes. He had 17 swings and misses including 10 off his fastball. He threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 21 batters he faced and he had just four three-ball counts in his outing.
With a comfortable 6-0 lead and given Gilbert’s overall workload that now includes 155 2/3 innings pitched, the Mariners decided to go to the bullpen and give him some additional rest, particularly with no extra rest before his next scheduled start, which would be on Tuesday vs. the White Sox.
